Basketball: Adams continues to shine

Steven Adams blocks a shot during the Thunder's preseason win over the Grizzlies. Photo / AP

Steven Adams continued his promising start to the preseason by scoring 22 points in a win over Memphis today.

Adams is battling veteran Kendrick Perkins for the starting centre role on the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Kiwi has done his chances no harm in the first three preseason games.

With Perkins still on the sidelines due to a quad strain suffered last month, Adams again showed his growing potential on the offensive end of the court.

The 21-year-old last season chipped in 3.3 points per game while averaging almost 15 minutes off the bench during his rookie campaign, numbers the big man is currently blowing away.

Adams started this afternoon against the Grizzlies and played 21 minutes, going nine-of-11 from the floor and adding six boards to his efforts. That performance followed outputs of 15 points/seven rebounds and 19 points/five rebounds in the Thunder's previous two games.

It's worth noting that this, of course, is only preseason, where teams have differing motivations and are aiming for varying objectives in each game. But Adams has now scored 14 points in a quarter twice this preseason while Perkins has reached that level only twice since joining the Thunder in 2010.