Basketball: Adams bright in gloomy defeat

Oklaholma City Thunder, which features Rotorua-born Steven Adams, crashed to a heavy defeat in game two of the NBA Western Conference semifinals.

Another impressive individual performance from Rotorua-born Steven Adams was nowhere near enough to save Oklahoma City from crashing to a heavy defeat in game two of the NBA Western Conference semifinals.

San Antonio romped to a 112-77 victory in the second clash of the seven-game series at the AT&T Centre in Texas, taking a 2-0 heading into Sunday's third game in Oklahoma.

Adams again came off the bench to lead the Thunder with eight rebounds, while his nine points came on four-of-five shooting from the floor. The Kiwi rookie also added a block while playing 33 minutes, running up his tally in garbage time to finish with more minutes than any teammate.

But Adams' efforts went in vain as the Spurs simply couldn't be stopped on the offensive end, shooting the lights out from the field and having their way with the Thunder interior in the absence of injured power forward Serge Ibaka.

Oklahoma City actually held an edge at the end of the first quarter, with Adams playing his part in the fast start. After coming into the game midway through the period the centre made an immediate impact with a two-hand put-back dunk, before showing power to score on a one-hand slam and finesse to finish a mid-range hook shot.

But, with Adams' seven first-quarter points the second-most on the Thunder behind Kevin Durant, the signs weren't promising for the visitors to level up the series.

San Antonio quickly seized control in the second quarter and, for the next 24 minutes, outscored their opponents 67-36. That offensive outburst rendered the final period irrelevant, leaving coach Scott Brooks to sit Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the Thunder turned their attentions to game three.

Oklahoma City's All Star pair managed only 30 points combined in the defeat, while Tony Parker led the Spurs with 22 as his side put five players in double digits.