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Pitt product Steven Adams and the Oklahoma City Thunder took on the New Orleans Pelicans at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday, and they notched a 123-118 win. Adams posted a double-double and came up with the play of the game, as he sunk a one-handed half-court shot just before the halftime buzzer.
Steven Adams had to shimmy after sinking this wild half-court shot pic.twitter.com/rNBz3Kz3cO
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 14, 2020
The shot came after Thunder point guard Chris Paul tossed Adams the ball with two seconds left in the first half. With limited options, Adams threw up a prayer of a shot from behind the Thunder logo, and when it went through, he celebrated with a shimmy. As it turns out, it was the first successful three-point shot of Adams' seven-year NBA career.
"We had a half-court shot competition yesterday, and I ended up winning that one because I did exactly the same shot," Adams said in an interview after the game. "I don't know. It just managed to go in today. As you can tell, I was hyped. After the shot went in, I kind of blacked out. ... I like shooting those types of shots from behind half-court. ... For some reason, I'm better at shooting with one hand than two hands."
Entering the Thursday night game, Adams had gone 0-for-11 dating back to his NBA debut in 2013. However, Adams’ three-pointer drought dated back even further, as he did not attempt any three-point shots in the 2012-13 season, which was his lone campaign at Pitt. So his last triple came in 2012 or earlier.
Adams finished the contest with 11 points, three blocks, two assists and a game-high 11 rebounds. It was his 18th double-double of the season and his second straight, as he also logged 10 points and 10 rebounds against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.