and the Thunder make it 1-2.

Adams with a decent game 7 points, 9 rebounds & 4 blocks in 27mins.

Saw bits and pieces, I though Adams was the best of the Oceania representation.

Adams is progressing into a very capable centre.

Is he playing at the Worlds?

How was Baynes?

NZ Basketball will be heading to OKC to pressure them to release him for Spain

Baynes was outplayed by Adams when he went at him. Blocked one time and then couldn't make a move or find a pass the next. For a brief moment, it looked like something might escalate from there but they backed down before it got frisky.

Mills wasn't too bad. He had a three rim out but then found Leonard (?) in the corner for a three from the o-board. He had a later three go down making the margin six, but his leg stuck out on the follow through and the defender charging him in the corner tripped. He was called for the offensive foul and the score was disallowed. The commentator who spoke up (Kerr?) didn't agree with the call. I think sentiment was that it was after the shot at worst. Maybe a no-call and let the basket stand.

Game kinda fell apart for the Spurs from there. Parker was having a bit of a shocker and the Thunder were getting a lot of offensive rebounds. Mills drew a good charge from Jackson I think it was and was a bit floppy on another play or two trying to repeat it.

Adams played very well - boards, blocks, etc. He always looks pretty comfortable. If you were picking Adams or Baynes based on what you saw today, you'd go Adams 9/10 times or more.

Thabeet came on for the final garbage minutes and he was fairly woeful - no fluidity, confidence or involvement. Then again, who knows if they're even running reasonable plays at that stage of the game.

Thanks for the write up Isaac.

Given that Bogut will likely be unavailable for the Worlds, who is the Boomers best option for starting Centre?

I still think Baynes should be in the team, he works hard and has good size, just not quite sold on his ability as much more than a pick n roll dunker.

"Any chance we can give Adams an Aussie passport and dual citizenship?"

he's educated OKC local media about the Aus/NZ rivalry and the underarm bowling incident, he's a hardcore Kiwi. You are welcome to keep Russell Crowe tho.

too bad we can't field an ANZAC based team for the Olympics, that would be sweet.

Kevin Durant having to tell Scott Brooks "get Serge out of the game" well after the OKC margin ensured victory was pretty funny.

Sometimes I wonder what he is thinking as a coach in-game.

Shocking refereeing. What the hell NBA? Absolutely atrocious.

I saw in Adams most recent interview that he said he will probably stay in okc and workout with the coaches there for the summer... Pretty gutting!

I have brought a venue pass for Barcelona for the WC, gambling that the Tall Blacks would make it out of their group.. Might be a bit tough now!!

Apparently this Westbrook bloke and his mate Durant played pretty good too.

Kevin Durant having to tell Scott Brooks "get Serge out of the game" well after the OKC margin ensured victory was pretty funny.

the refereing was woefull, some of the worst iv seen in the NBA. The free throw differential proves that. the Foul count evens out but refs now to do that as the quarter's come to a close. They always make them on fouls outside of the key to not influence the game on catch up calls.

After watching the game, I knew there was going to be some biased Spurs fans whining about the refs. The refereeing was fine. Even the commentators were saying that the free throw disparity was due to the type of game the spurs played as compared to OKC. The only real quesitonable call against the spurs was the one on Mills, I agree with Isaac and Steve Kerr that the 3 should have counted.

There were two fouls on Perkins in the first quarter that were rubbish and caused him to miss the rest of the first half, and both were offensive where OKC would have scored the ball if the foul wasn't called. The Spurs get far more calls going there way at home and always have, but the refs haven't decided any of the games yet in this series, the better team has won each time.

Couldn't agree more Uncle Phil. Absolutely nothing wrong with the officiating as Reggie Miller and Steve Kerr stated. OKC far more aggressive (check the rebounding count!)and got rewarded for that.

Ibaka was unbelievable with some of his blocks and rim protection. He completely changes the game and the Spurs were lucky he was missing in games 1 & 2. Westbrook's block on Parker was pretty impressive too, making up a huge amount of ground.

Really hope that Ibaka pulls up ok for the 4th game as it's not really a fair fight without him there.

I watched the game again last night and agree completely in regards to the reffing.

The Bleacher Report Article "the one player each NBA fanbase hopes doesn't return" is an interesting read.

They have Derek Fisher for OKC, Jameer Nelson at Orlando (due to them hoping to snag Dante Exum) and then Australia's Arron Baynes for the Spurs.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2073086-the-one-player-each-nba-fanbase-hopes-doesnt-return-next-season/page/28

@Mystro, can we keep Phar Lap too, I like him more than Crow!

If NZ could have kept Baynes and now with Adams improvements they would be very impressive internationally.

I think in coming years NZ will be legit anyway, the Aussies will have to stay on their game to defeat them!

Oh, and don't bring up the underarm bowling please, that wasn't our finest moment was it??

Yes Baynes would have been a great asset for NZ Basketball but he would have prob have got drunk and committed Genocide on a mass scale wrecking his future so Australia was prob the more solid pick.

Phar Lapp, wasn't that dog food?

you a fan of watching dog food run round in circles with dwarfs riding them or a current fan of young NZ basketball players behavior in public?

Ibaka started hot but Adams was more effective
Ibaka is getting a lot of credit & hype
but without Adams input , the spurs could've easily ripped them after Ibaka went to the locker room

Ibaka was instrumental in keeping Parker from getting easy scores around the basket especially early on, Adams just couldn't quite stop him