Kiwi Adams won't trash talk Aussie Bogut

New Zealand to Australia is sort of like Canada to the United States. The countries are remarkably similar, yet they enjoy trash-talking one another - while the less-populated nation tends to be touchy about being overlooked.

But with the Western Conference finals tipping off Monday, Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams - one of only two New Zealanders in the NBA - said he won't engage in trash talk in the trenches with Australian pivot Andrew Bogut of the Golden State Warriors.

"I made fun of them when we (beat Australia) in cricket in like my first year," Adams told reporters Saturday. "Last year we got kicked, so I didn't talk to him from then on. We got destroyed."

Australia has tended to get the better of New Zealand in sports like cricket and basketball over the years. Yet not unlike Canada and hockey, the Kiwis are particularly dominant in one sport: rugby. The famous All Blacks have won 68 percent of their matches all time against their former penal-colony neighbors.