Durant, Adams Lead Thunder Past Detroit

Kevin Durant was incredible Friday night in Detroit, yet wasn't even the biggest story of the game for Oklahoma City.

Rookie center Steven Adams played the best game of his young career, collecting his first double-double by scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench, helping lead Oklahoma City to a 119-110 win over the Pistons and former assistant coach Maurice Cheeks, who took over the Pistons in the offseason.

Not many expected much of Adams when the Thunder drafted him with the No. 12 overall pick this past summer. Many thought he'd spend most of this season in Tulsa refining his skill set and preparing to become a bigger part of the team next year. But Adams has proven everyone wrong. He played very well in the preseason and has played even better through the first five games of the regular season.

Adams even managed to outshine Durant, even though Durant scored 37 points on just 15 shots with eight rebounds and seven assists. That's how impressive Adams was.

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Russell Westbrook had a rough game, but still scored 20 points despite shooting a terrible 5-of-19 from the field. He grabbed five rebounds but didn't have a single assist.

Overall, the Oklahoma City bench was very good. Jeremy Lamb chipped in 10 points while Nick Collison had nine and played solid defense against the athletic Pistons front line. Reggie Jackson had a solid game, scoring six points while grabbing six boards and dishing out six assists.

For Detroit, Josh Smith led the scoring with 25 points while Greg Monroe had a great game of 20 points and 15 rebounds. Brandon Jennings had 22 points and hit a couple of 3-pointers at the end of the game to make Oklahoma City sweat a little before the Thunder closed it out with free throws.

The free throw line was especially kind to the Thunder Friday night. OKC hit 39-of-44 from the charity stripe with Durant going 17-for-19 on his own.

The Thunder is playing well at a good time. OKC hosts Washington on Sunday before heading out west to play the Clippers and Golden State in a back-to-back starting on Wednesday. Oklahoma City looks much more like the title contender everyone expects them to be, and the young players will only improve from here.