Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) goes up for a shot as Oklahoma City Thunder's Steven Adams (12) defends during the second half of an NBA first-round playoff basketball game. Photo / AP
Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) goes up for a shot as Oklahoma City Thunder's Steven Adams (12) defends during the second half of an NBA first-round playoff basketball game. Photo / AP
The Oklahoma City Thunder forced their opening round series against the Houston Rockets in a deciding Game 7 thanks to the heroics of Chris Paul.
Paul was at his unstoppable best as he scored 15 fourth quarter points to seal the win and leave the series hanging in the balance.
As good as Paul has been in leading the charge against the team he played for last season, another Thunder star has failed to come to the party.
Kiwi big man Steven Adams was earmarked as a key to the series for the Thunder against the perennial small-ball tactics employed by the Rockets.
But Adams has failed to have a major impact on the series despite towering over every single opponent he's gone up against and it's getting under the skin of The Ringer's Ryen Russillo.
As Russillo rattled off a string of issues to plague the Thunder, it was when he got to Adams that the flamethrower came out.
"Steven Adams' usage rate, and sometimes it's because of the line-ups, but he gets a couple of touches early and then they never go to him," Russillo said on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
"But he's sneaky disappointing in that he forgets how big he is. He plays small sometimes.
"He's this big New Zealand guy with this huge family and he tackled an Ox during quarantine in New Zealand and we're like 'big badass Steven Adams' and nobody would ever fight like him.
"Then play like it. He plays soft."
"He's one of those guys, you almost need him for the series where the other team has an awesome centre and Adams can just bang bodies with him," Bill Simmons added.
"For a series like this I just don't know what his role is."
Last month Adams was praised on social media for his toughness after returning to the court following an awkward fall on his leg.
Russillo however wasn't done there and couldn't believe how poorly the Thunder had failed to exploit the height advantage Adams was bringing to the table.
"P.J. Tucker got his third foul and we know he didn't like the call because he disputed it and P.J. leaves the game and the next possession after a dead ball it's like why don't you get Adams deep on a seal or have him go block to block on a screen so he can get a deeper catch," Russillo said.
"Just do a different action to test them out now that P.J. is out of the game and Dort takes a three.
"All this is, is moderate expectations of what the Thunder could be. I don't think they're this great basketball team. But I thought they were smarter than this.
Oklahoma City Thunder's Steven Adams (12) looks to make a pass as Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) defends . Photo / AP
"What they did in Game Five you can't … I'm dumbfounded. I sat there in silence for like 10 minutes after the game going 'what the f*** did you just let happen to you?'"
Through the six games played so far in the series, the Rockets have started every game with P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington as their starting frontcourt.
Adams towers over both men with a 12cm advantage over Covington and 17cm over Tucker, but the big man has failed to put his prints on the series.
The Thunder's man in the middle is averaging 10.16 points per game and 12 rebounds per game throughout the series.
While those figures may be above his career averages, it's deeper into the numbers where the issues arise for Adams.
The Thunder have been better on both ends of the floor when Adams finds himself sitting on the bench and not on the court.
Adams hasn't imposed himself on the series as the small-ball Rockets dominate the paint, outscoring the Thunder 248-220 in six games.
Of his 72 rebounds, Adams has grabbed 30 on the offensive end. But defensively he's struggling with only 1 block to his name.
The Thunder still have a chance of moving into the second round when Game 7 gets underway on Thursday at 1pm (NZT), but they'll need Adams to finally play like he's the biggest and toughest man on the floor if they want to get the job done.
