The Oklahoma Thunder have really amazed a lot of people this year, before the Christmas war, the Thunder's record reached 21 wins and 11 losses, ranking third in the West, just 0.5 wins away from the first Nuggets - this is definitely a better result than fans expected before the start of the game, especially considering that Westbrook missed 8 games, Robertson has not returned, and the Thunder started with a 4-game losing streak.
Among them, the dual-core Wei Shao and Paul George naturally contributed to it.
George played the best season of his career, currently averaging 26.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.7 blocks per game, his 5 statistics are all career highest, all high-level statistics are also at the forefront of the league, the last 6 games, George is 5 times 30+, of which 2 times took 40+ - no one thought that George, who had experienced such a serious injury, was actually improving at the age of 28, and he may be the best offensive and defensive player in the league this season.
In contrast, Wei Shao's state this year has declined slightly, averaging only 20.2 points per game so far, which is the lowest score in the year since Wei Shao's second grade, and his shooting has been affected by injuries, his shooting has been somewhat struggling, and his true shooting rate has not even reached 50%. However, Westbrook is also helping the team in other ways, he can still average 10.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game, and can also deliver 2.6 steals - unconsciously, it is an average of three-doubles per game, and at the same time, Westbrook's defensive efficiency has reached the best of his career.
In addition to the "new king explosion", the third giant of the Thunder also deserves more discussion.
Steven Adams, the king of Russia's inner line that looks exactly like Aquaman, has also played at his best this year. So far, Adams has averaged 11.4 shots per game, 16.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals, a career-high for all five statistics. It can be said that adams' existence is the thunder's rebounding guarantee, he can average 5.0 frontcourt rebounds per game, the league's second; frontcourt rebounding rate of 13.2%, the league's eighth; the second offense scored 4.8 points, the league's third; the interior scored 13.2 points, the league's sixth; the total plus-minus on the court reached +260, the league's fifth.
Adams's card position grabbing skills are really strong, a person and the opponent of three or four players to compete for rebounds is almost a common thing, considering the Thunder tactical arrangement, Adams will sometimes let Westbrook or Schroeder pick up the backcourt rebounds after the card position, otherwise his rebounding data is definitely more than this number. Among them, Adams played at the best level in the game against the Kings a week ago, facing the Kings' young front, Adams Yuyu took 23 rebounds on the inside, a career high, 9 of which were offensive rebounds - he had 21 rebounds at the end of the third quarter, really rebounding monsters.
In addition to rebounding, Adams also has a traditional interior offensive skill, he can hold the ball back in the low position, the pace of the penalty area has improved significantly this season, and the throwing small hooker technique has become more mature - this is where he is different from "rebounding idiots" such as Drummond or Thompson, in other words, Adams is not a big center who can only eat pie, and his contribution to the team's offensive end is far greater than the data.
However, Adams on the defensive end has certain flaws. Despite his excellent rebounding, his rim-guarding abilities are not outstanding, averaging only 0.9 blocks per game. At the same time, in terms of defensive blocking, Adams's judgment ability is not good, and it can even be described as bad, and there are often hesitation problems, either because the ball holder is not decisive, or if he does not return to the defense and stays in place. This problem has been exposed as early as last season, and it still exists this season, and if the Thunder want to go further, in addition to Westbrook needing to find a feel, Adams' blocking defense also needs to be improved.
Of course, these Thunder also know it, so they will sign Noel's mobile and large defensive interior line as Adams' replacement. However, Adams's merit is always more than his shortcomings, his enthusiasm has been affirmed by the team and coaches many years ago, and hard work has always been Adams's biggest advantage in addition to rebounding, which can also be seen from the blue-collar data officially launched by the NBA in recent years: so far this season, Adams has averaged 14.5 interfering shots per game, the sixth in the league; 3.7 cover assists, eleventh in the league; 1.7 saves, eighth in the league; 9.4 in the card slot, third in the league.
A blue-collar interior like Adams, surviving in the league is actually more or less negative, because small actions, and sometimes even big moves, are inevitable when scrambling and card slots. The same is true of Adams, but in recent years, the evaluation of him has rarely developed in a better way.
Before 2016, Adams's beard was not so long, the rebounding data was not so dazzling, fans were talking about Adams more about how dirty he was, how to appear redundant when blocking and dismantling, or pretending to be innocent in front of the referee, and even there would be a discussion of him and Bowen comparing; however, after 2016, the news about Adams gradually became that he lifted up his opponent when the opponent fell - even the opponent was durant or Green of the Warriors, some time ago, Against the Nuggets, Adams gave up the "2+1" protection of Plumlee's scene, which made many fans praise it.
You can call it the "evil man metamorphosis", or, Adams has actually been such a player, as a blue-collar worker, since entering the league, he has never stopped working hard, grabbing rebounds, card slots, defending, saving the ball, these dirty jobs he is experiencing every game, maybe today is his big news, the next game will be his heartwarming moves, for Adams, these are playing. Finally, Adams is only 25 years old, and maybe he can get better in the future.