Steven Adams and Oklahoma City continued their quest for the NBA title today, beating Memphis 120-109 in a deciding seventh game to advance to the western conference semifinals.
Adams played 25 minutes off the bench - the most game time he has enjoyed in the playoffs - and chimed in with eight points, becoming the second New Zealander after Sean Marks to advance to the second round in the postseason.
After featuring sparingly in the first five games of the series, Adams played 20 minutes and recorded a career-high five blocks in Friday's game six, helping the Thunder earn a win that kept alive their season.
And today the rookie was again heavily involved, coming into the game early in the opening quarter after starting centre Kendrick Perkins picked up a pair of fouls. Adams played the rest of the period and threw down a spectacular dunk but couldn't prevent the Grizzlies from edging ahead.
But Oklahoma City steadily chipped away at the deficit and held a commanding advantage heading into the fourth quarter, led by 33 points from MVP-in-waiting Kevin Durant and a triple-double from point guard Russell Westbrook.
