With Thursday night’s TNT tilt between the Thunder and Spurs approaching, Terrance Ferguson nods his head under the weight of his Beats headphones. The sounds of Lil Uzi Vert escape as he lifts the right side to hear why Stephen Adams is yelling at him. It turns out Adams was simply performing his traditional Haka dance in his direction, but Ferguson has received a lot of attention his way recently, and it’s on purpose.

“As soon as the game ends I basically run to the stat sheet, and it’s because I know in my heart that Terrance gave us 2 or 4 points tonight. You can’t replace that”. Russell Westbrook used to be accused of stat hunting during his triple-double purge, but a season long shooting slump has changed Westbrook’s focus away from scoring. Who better to fill the void than his starting backcourt mate, who on any given night can explode for six whole points. “Everyone knows where the ball is going when we’re up by 20” says Coach Billy Donovan. “When the game is firmly in hand I can guarantee our guys will find Terrance”.

Ferguson may be known for his freakish athleticism, but the Thunder’s gamble on the young prospect who chose to play overseas instead of college seems to be paying off in a big way. It will be interesting to see how playoff defenses adjust to the rising star.