When NBA fans think of the Memphis Grizzlies they likely think of the team’s young All Star Ja Morant but heading into the playoffs, Steven Adams should start to enter the chat more often.
Adams was traded to the Grizzlies this season after a rough 2020-2021 with the New Orleans Pelicans but despite a second new team in two years, the New Zealand centre has found himself much more at home in Memphis than New Orleans.
Despite losing a minute per game this season compared to his time with New Orleans. Adams saw his rebounds [10.0], assists [3.4], blocks [0.8] and plus-minus [4.6] averages per game all significantly increase as he found a natural fit in Taylor Jenkins’ set-up.
Sure, his points-per-game [6.9] went down by 0.7 this season but scoring isn’t Adams’ priority in this Grizzlies line-up – physicality is.
Adams set a Grizzlies offensive rebounds single season record this year with 349 which is 19 more than previous leader Zach Randolph and a sizeable 84 more than the best single season Jonas Valanciunas – the guy he was traded for – had in his time at Memphis.
On top of that, Adams finished the season with a career-high assists total with 256 – a whopping 110 more than his previous best in his final season in OKC two years ago.
That was good enough for him to finish fifth this season among starting centres in the NBA, adding an unexpected but welcomed feather to the burly big man’s cap.
“I just hang around and do my part,” the humble centre said last month.
“Whatever the numbers end up being, that’s what they are.”
When Adams isn’t on or chasing the ball though, he’s making sure others can use it more effectively too.
Adams led the entire NBA in box outs, screen assists, assists from the paint and assists from the elbow this season and the biggest benefactor of it all was superstar guard Morant.
Morant made history this season in becoming the first guard to lead the league in paint scoring since the NBA started tracking it in 1990s, but he averaged six more points in that area when Adams was on the court than when the “Big Kiwi” wasn’t.
Then of course there’s the razzle-dazzle moments like the full-court, NFL-like pass he made to Morant for a buzzer-beater midway through the season and the time he literally picked up an opponent who was trying to create a scuffle with his star teammate.
That kind of presence has been developed from years of working in tandem with future Hall of Fame guard Russell Westbrook at his original home in Oklahoma City, where the team regularly featured in the NBA playoffs.
Heading into this year’s post-season, that experience is going to be crucial for the young Grizzlies, with Adams having more career playoff minutes under his belt [1610] than the rest of the Memphis squad combined [1368].
Despite the experience, it will still be somewhat unfamiliar territory for Adams too.
The Grizzlies finishing second in the Western Conference with a record of 56-26 is the highest seed Adams has finished a season in as a starter [he came off the bench during his rookie season behind Kendrick Perkins when the Thunder also finished second].
That seeding comes after Memphis barely snuck into the playoffs last year, when they finished ninth in the regular season before winning their way through to the eighth seed in the play-in tournament.
So what changed between then and now? Besides starting forward Jaren Jackson Jr not being injured for a majority of the season and younger members such as Morant getting games under their belt, the biggest change the Grizzlies have had is the addition of Adams at starting centre.
“I don’t think anyone expected that from the start of the season,” he said last month.
“But it’s been amazing.”
That acquisition could mean even more over the next week with Memphis’ seeding setting them up with a first-round playoff against the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, who feature All Star Karl Anthony-Towns at the centre position.
Despite Anthony-Towns’ well-earned reputation, he too lacks playoff experience after years of struggles with the T-Wolves.
While Adams boasts 59 playoff games so far in his career, Anthony-Towns only has five – six if you include this week's play-in game where he struggled to have a significant impact. He finished the game with 11 points on three-for-11 shooting and just five rebounds.
“I have experience in the playoffs so I know about the preparation itself which is very microscopic and fine-tuned,” he said.
“It’s very, very fine tuned and learn a lot of stuff quickly.”
While Minnesota fans will brush off that performance as a one-off bad night, the contrast in physicality and pressure between what Adams will offer and what LA Clippers centre Ivica Zubac gave in that play-in game will be vastly different too – and the Kiwi knows that’s what he needs to bring this Sunday.
Should all go to plan there, Adams and Memphis will then move on to face either Golden State – a team he has plenty of experience facing from playoffs past – or a team boasting another superstar centre in Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
In either scenario, Adams will once again be a key component in any deep run for Morant and the Grizzlies.
After that, it’s the conference finals before the NBA Finals where anything can happen and anyone can become a legend – Big Kiwis included.
SHARE ME