Two spin moves was all Thunder center Steven Adams needed to tear himself away from the Grizzlies' two big men and sink a turnaround hook shot.
At the beginning of the second half, it was just the Thunder's fifth basket in the paint.
If there was going to be a night when Adams could take an extended break without the Thunder feeling the effects, it should have been Thursday. Memphis had traded away Marc Gasol (and three other players) at the trade deadline, so it started center Ivan Rabb for just the second time this season. But OKC got a taste of life without Adams for much of the first half, and it didn't go well.
Adams picked up three fouls within the first six minutes of the game and sat for the rest of the half.
"It was just being dumb," Adams said of the fouls. "Like, trying to make a hustle play at the wrong time leads to fouls. It's not the right time to try to make it up. Just accept the turnover or whatever it is. Move on."
When its centers are healthy and not in foul trouble, the Thunder roster sets up a variety of looks for the opposing team. With the starting lineup, OKC has the 7-foot, 265-pound Adams, who is a force in pick-and-roll coverage and a bulldozer in the low post. With the second unit, there's lanky Nerlens Noel, who can switch onto almost any player and ranks in the top 10 for blocks per 100 possessions.
When in a bind, or in a small-ball lineup, the Thunder can slide Patrick Patterson over from power forward to the five position.
With 6:12 remaining in the first quarter, OKC found itself without a traditional grind-it-out-down-low center. Against the Grizzlies' unique style of zone defense, the Thunder turned to its 3-point shooting. By the end of the first quarter, only one of its eight baskets came from 2-point range. At halftime, OKC had only added three more field goals inside the arc, and it trailed Memphis by two points.
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