Tag: buzzer-beater

Steven Adams has funny response to his favorite part of All-Star break

While his teammates were in Chicago for the All-Star game or spending time with their families, Steven Adams enjoyed “training his dog”.

One thing is for certain. When interviewing Steven Adams, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get.

Like the time where he used profanity to describe his fear of being at the free-throw line in a clutch situation.

Or when he said the next time he’s going to wear a custom suit will be “at his funeral”.

Adams’ blunt style combined with sarcastic wit and his colloquial “mate” makes him one of the more entertaining interviews on the team.

Oklahoma City’s media session at practice on Thursday was no exception.

Thunder reporter Nick Gallo asked Adams what his favorite part of being off for the All-Star break was. Without missing a beat, Adams replied, “I think training my dog, mate”.

Who doesn’t love some quality time with their dog?

The week off also likely helped Adams get fully healthy for the final push of the regular season after dealing with knee and ankle injuries towards the end of January.

In his last 10 games prior to the All-Star break, Adams was averaging just 8.0 points per game 7.4 rebounds, down from his season averages of 10.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest.

Oklahoma City will hope to have him back to form on Friday night when they host the Nuggets. In their only game against Denver this season, Adams went for a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a 110-102 loss on Dec. 14.

Adams was also seen at practice on Thursday working on his half-court heaves.

He hit the first 3-pointer of his career on Feb. 13 against the New Orleans Pelicans on a three-quarter court heave to beat the halftime buzzer.

Thunder ties franchise record with 8th straight road win

Oklahoma City swept the regular-season series against the New Orleans Pelicans with a 123-118 win on Thursday night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder swept the regular-season series against the New Orleans Pelicans with a 123-118 win inside the Smoothie King Center on Thursday night.

It was the final game for both teams before heading into the All-Star break.

Two nights after Billy Donovan said his team had a “small margin for error” and that OKC needed everyone to play well to have a chance to win, six Thunder players turned in a double-digit performance, lead by Danilo Gallinari with 29.

Dennis Schroder once again came off the bench to score 22, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steven Adams and Mike Muscala chipped in 17, 11, and 10, respectively.

Chris Paul posted a double-double, chipping in 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Zion Williamson, playing in his first game against Oklahoma City this season, led all scorers with 32, topping his previous career-high of 31 from Tuesday night.

Williamson showcased yet another reason why he was chosen with the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft in the second quarter with what might be the filthiest block of the year when he swatted an Abdel Nader shot attempt into the seats.

But the play of the night came from Thunder center Steven Adams.

With one second left on the game clock, Adams hit a 70-foot heave to beat the buzzer and send Oklahoma City into halftime with a 66-58 lead.

It was the first 3-pointer of Adams’ career and he responded with a little shoulder shimmy before celebrating with teammates as he left the court.

With the win, Oklahoma City improves to 33-22 overall and 16-10 on the road.

Per the Thunder, Thursday night’s win is the eighth road victory in a row, tying an Oklahoma City franchise record.

The Thunder will step away from regular-season action for All-Star Weekend where OKC will be represented by both Gilgeous-Alexander in the Skills Challenge and the Rising Stars Game, and Chris Paul, who will be making his 10th All-Star Game appearance.

Oklahoma City is back in action next Friday, Feb. 21 when they host the Denver Nuggets.

WATCH: Steven Adams hits half-court shot to beat buzzer

Adams notched his first-career regular-season 3-pointer on a 70-feet one-handed heave to beat the halftime buzzer on Thursday.

Steven Adams should really consider a post-NBA career as an NFL quarterback.

Adams already showcased his impressive arm earlier this season in a wild win over the Minnesota Timberwolves when he threw a baseball-style pass to hit a streaking Dennis Schroder who then made a bucket at the buzzer to send that game into overtime.

Thursday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, Adams didn’t need help from any of his teammates.

With time ticking down in the second quarter, Adams inbounded the ball to Chris Paul who immediately passed it back to Adams. With one second left on the clock, Adams nonchalantly flipped the ball with one hand from beyond half court, pausing to watch it swish through the net without even touching the rim.

Afterward, Adams showed off a celebratory shimmy.

The shot was also Adams’ first-career 3-pointer in a regular-season game.

He opened the preseason this fall by knocking down a three on the Thunder’s opening possession against the Dallas Mavericks.

The triple was part of a 37-point second quarter for the Thunder. Oklahoma City took a 66-58 lead into the half against the New Orleans Pelicans.

WATCH: HS player’s half-court buzzer-beater is one for the ages

A high school basketball player known to practice half-court shots for fun proved practice makes perfect Friday when he made a buzzer-beater for the ages.

A high school basketball player known to practice half-court shots for fun proved practice makes perfect Friday when he made a buzzer-beater for the ages—an incredible one-handed heave while falling out of bounds.

With time winding down in the first quarter, Storm Jipson of Edward Little High in Maine chased down a loose ball at half court, grabbed the ball with one hand and tossed a high-arcing shot that hit nothing but net.

The crowd went wild.

Bridget Shea told For The Win that she videotapes each of Edward Little High’s games so the assistant coach can do stats. So that’s how she happened to capture the magical moment that helped spark the team to a 55-35 victory at Windham High School after a slow start.

“I wish I had panned to the bench,” Shea told For The Win. “They went crazy. The fans directly in front of me were Edward Little students. The fans that go crazy in the bottom rows were the Windham student section.

“No one could believe it. It was crazy.”

Jipson, a senior captain, doesn’t typically score a lot as the team relies on him for defense (he finished with 5 points in this game), but Shea said, “apparently him and the assistant coach compete in practice on half-court shots for fun.”

That fun paid off with serious dividends in this game, though one wonders how often he might have practiced this crazy shot.

Photo courtesy of ViralHog.

Steven Adams’ pass the unsung hero of OKC’s win over Minnesota

With 1.1 seconds left in regulation, Adams threw a perfect pass to Dennis Schröder who tied the game with a buzzer-beating layup.

Let’s be honest here. Dennis Schröder did an incredible job getting a last-second layup off in time to beat the buzzer.

Chris Paul did his part in pointing out Jordan Bell’s untucked jersey that got the delay of game technical assessed, which in turn, allowed the sequence of events to unfold the way that they did: with Danilo Gallinari making the technical free-throw to bring the Thunder within a point before Karl-Anthony Towns accidentally made the second of two free-throws, which gave Oklahoma City the opportunity to take the ball out of bounds.

But all that would have been useless if not for the ridiculous inbounds pass made by Steven Adams.

With no timeouts, Adams ran out of bounds, set his feet, and launched the ball with perfect precision into the hands of Schröder.

Social media reacted accordingly.

The duo said after the game that they had been talking about a last-second scenario prior to Towns’ made free-throw.

“We had a couple of times before where I just lose my man and I tried to sprint as fast as I can,” said Schröder. “And he made a (expletive) of a pass.”

Nick Gallo pointed out that Adams can be seen practicing those long baseball-style passes frequently at practice.

“Those situations do arise, and honestly mate, all it is I can’t do a good technique pass, so I resort to a baseball pass,” said Adams. “It worked out well, mate, it worked out well.”

Oklahoma City went on to win 139-127 in overtime, so for the Thunder, it did indeed work out well.

Oklahoma City wins wild one in OT over Timberwolves

Dennis Schröder made a layup as time expired to send the Thunder and the Timberwolves into overtime tied at 121.

It took a hail Mary pass, a buzzer-beating layup, and overtime but the Thunder emerged victorious from their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday with a 139-127 victory.

The bizarre ending inside Chesapeake Energy Arena started like this: Oklahoma City trailed 121-119 with one second remaining in regulation when the Thunder fouled Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns missed the first of two free throws, but Minnesota was assessed a technical foul when Jordan Bell checked into the game in between shots because he didn’t have his shirt tucked in.

Danilo Gallinari made his technical free throw, cutting the Timberwolves’ lead to one.

Towns then made the second of his free throws, but despite putting Minnesota up two, the make allowed OKC to take the ball out of bounds.

Adams then threw a pass the length of the court to Dennis Schröder, who beat the buzzer with a layup to send the game into overtime.

He was so excited, he included the security guard on the sidelines in his celebratory hugs.

Schröder told reporters after the game that he and Adams had been communicating about a potential final play prior to Towns’ second free throw.

“I missed a wide-open layup to tie the game first. Everybody came to me and was like, ‘you’re going to make up for it”, he said. “Karl Towns wanted to miss that free throw, he didn’t miss. He (Steven Adams) took it out, and I mean, I had to make up for it. After that, I don’t know what happened, I blacked out a little bit.”

Oklahoma City outscored the Timberwolves 17-5 in overtime to earn the victory.

Chris Paul scored a season-high 30. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been in somewhat of a slump as of late, had 29. Schröder, Adams, and Gallinari all made of the bulk of the rest of the scoring with 25, 22, and 21 respectively.

With the win, the Thunder split their two-game homestand and improve to 9-12 on the season.

Oklahoma City will head on the road where they will take on Portland on Sunday.