“I’m so proud of him,” Mutombo said. “I’m so proud of his effort. He’s unbelievable.”

Mutombo shook his head in wonderment as he recalled one of Adams’s second-quarter baskets, a dunk off a rebound of a missed 12-footer by Westbrook. “I was like ‘Whoa!’” Mutombo said, adding, “He’s one of the most surprising big men today.”

Image The two-time Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams is one of Steven Adams’s 17 sisters and brothers. Credit... Abdelhak Senna/European Pressphoto Agency

Adams perked up when Mutombo’s words were relayed to him. Alluding to Mutombo’s deep, soothing voice, which calls to mind Barry White on stilts, Adams said, “He can read me a story and I’ll go straight to sleep.”

For Adams, and his teammates, there is no resting. After coasting to 55 victories in the regular season to trail the Warriors (73) and the Spurs (67) in the West, the Thunder have circled their playoff prey with a hunger that is almost primal. Adams epitomizes the team’s commitment to getting better and to playing with and for one another.

“He’s really, really focused and concentrated on trying to do the job to the best of his ability,” said the Thunder’s first-year coach, Billy Donovan, “and I think he does the job out of great care for the guys in the locker room.”

From their center, the Thunder’s cohesiveness spreads outward. Its ripple effects were seen late in Thursday’s game when Durant, between whistles, hurried over to the bench and patted the players as if they were pillows in need of plumping. Which in a manner of speaking, they were: The Warriors’ reserves outscored their Oklahoma City counterparts by 30 to 13.

But before his teammates can feed off Adams’s energy, he has to accommodate his voracious appetite. “His metabolism is crazy,” said Collison, who has watched Adams attack two or three entrees at one sitting with the same zeal he does loose rebounds.