Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams has taken some awful knocks this Western Conference Finals, and we're only at Game 3.
As you can see above and below, this latest -- and probably most painful -- blow came Sunday night at home against the Golden State Warriors.
Everyone knows how much this hurts. Women giving birth know this pain, too. The point is: poor Steven Adams. He never saw it coming.
The culprit today, and in Adams' Game 2 blow to the "midsection," is Warriors forward Draymond Green, who was called for a Flagrant 1 foul for tonight's nasty play. Inadvertent or on purpose? It's a tough call.
Green told reporters on Friday that his goal wasn't to get in Adams' head this series. Ostensibly, Green's aim hasn't been the head.
Here's the blow Adams took on another Green drive to the basket on last Wednesday night at Oracle Arena:
Despite putting his ability to reproduce at stake, Adams will take solace in his team's performance and his individual toughness. At halftime against the Warriors, a top five NBA defense in the regular season, the Thunder had run up 73 points to the Warriors' 47. The teams are tied 1-1 in the series.
The 25-point deficit is the largest halftime deficit the 73-win defending NBA champions have faced this season. Adams heads into the locker room with 8 points and 5 rebounds, while Green is struggling (1 of 8 from the field, -31 plus-minus). To make matters worse the for Warriors: No playoff team has ever come back down 25 points at halftime.
Draymond Green isn't playing the best, or smartest night of basketball.
UPDATE (11:02 p.m.): Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Green both told reporters postgame that they expect the flagrant foul to be rescinded by the NBA.
Others, however, are floating the possibility of the NBA taking retroactive action and suspending Green — similar to how the league suspended Cleveland Cavaliers player Dahntay Jones for one game on Sunday for striking Toronto Raptors center Bismack Biyombo in the groin in Saturday night's game.
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