Basketball: Adams, Thunder miss playoffs

Steven Adams fights for possession against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Kevin Martin. Photo / AP

A thrilling final day of the NBA regular season has seen Rotorua's Steven Adams and the Oklahoma City Thunder knocked out of the playoffs picture.

It took until the final day of the season to determine whether the Thunder or New Orleans Pelicans would progress to the NBA playoffs this year.

The Thunder had no trouble beating the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves 138-113 in their final game yesterday. It would have been enough to gain the eighth and final playoffs spot in the Western Conference if not for an upset win by the Pelicans.

The Pelicans defeated the higher-ranked San Antonio Spurs yesterday 108-103 to finish with an identical record to the Thunder - 45 wins and 37 losses this season.

They only finished above the Thunder thanks to a superior head-to-head record.

It means Adams' second season in the NBA is over and he will now have plenty of time to reflect and look ahead to next season.

It has been a big year for the 21-year-old centre who has taken on more responsibility at the Oklahoma City franchise and improved his statistics across the board.

A tough injury toll was a major factor behind the Thunder missing the playoffs this year for the first time since the 2008-2009 season, with injured star Kevin Durante missing most of the season.

His partner in crime, Russell Westbrook, also missed a good chunk of the season, as did forward Serge Ibaka. Westbrook ended the season with the best NBA game average, 28.1 points, but ESPN.com reported he would much rather have had a spot in the playoffs.

"I never really thought I'd be winning anything close to a scoring title," Westbrook said. "But I'd rather be in the playoffs than win the scoring title, to tell you the truth."

Steven Adams

•2013/2014 regular season (rookie year):

Games played, 81; games started, 20; minutes per game

(average), 14.8; points per game (average), 3.3; rebounds

per game (average), 4.1; blocks per game (average), 0.7.

•2014/2015 regular season:

Games played, 70; games started, 67; minutes per game

(average), 25.3; points per game (average), 7.7; rebounds

per game (average), 7.5; blocks per game (average), 1.2.