Kiwi centre Steve Adams battled injury and foul trouble, as his Oklahoma City Thunder lost home advantage in their first-round NBL playoff series against the Utah Jazz.
Playing at their Chesapeake Energy Arena venue, where they were 27-14 during the regular season, the Thunder have lost 102-95 to the visiting Jazz and will travel to Salt Lake City for Game Three with their series tied at 1-1.
Adams had injured his right arm dunking during OKC's opening win and looked tentative through the first half. He retired to the locker-room at one point, but returned to the court for the second half without his bandage.
Kiwi Steven Adams teaches NBA reporter a lesson in manners
But he also fell foul of the referee's whistle and eventually picked up his disqualifying sixth infringement with almost seven minutes still on the clock. He accumulated nine points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes.
Rookie guard Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 28 points, while forward Derek Favors had 20 points and 16 rebounds. Utah outscored their Western Conference rivals 28-16 in the final quarter.
Russell Westbrook finished one rebound short of a triple double for Oklahoma City, with 19 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, LeBron James scored 46 points, as the Cleveland Cavaliers evened their Eastern Conference playoff series at one game apiece with a 100-97 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers.
James hit 17 of 24 shots and 10 of 13 free throws, while pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.
Cleveland's Kevin Love, who left the game with a hand injury with 3m 43s left in the fourth quarter, scored 15 points, and Kyle Korver added 12.
Head coach Tyronn Lue said that Love jammed a thumb, but should be able to play Friday.
The Cavaliers shot 50.7 percent while the Pacers were at 52.6 percent. However, Indiana was 6 of 22 on three-point attempts while Cleveland was 11 of 28.
Victor Oladipo topped the Pacers with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Myles Turner was right behind with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Darren Collison added 16 points for Indiana.
The Pacers were hurt by the fact Oladipo picked up two fouls in first 62 seconds and had to go to the bench for the rest of the quarter.
Oladipo picked up his third foul with 4m 47s left in the second quarter, but he wasn't whistled for another foul in the game.
Reuters/Newshub.
