Steven Adams has suffered yet another painful blow to the groin during Oklahoma City Thunder's two-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Coming less than a week after copping a low shot against the Chicago Bulls, the big Kiwi centre spent several minutes crouched down on the court floor after, a wayward knee from Karl-Anthony Towns struck Adams in the now infamous 'Kiwis'.
The low blow was rightly ruled accidental and Adams returned to the action almost immediately after play resumed.
The matchup with Towns was a titanic one, with the two All-Star centre prospects cancelling each other out on the boards.
Adams (12 points) managed just four rebounds in 28 minutes while Towns (18 points) was well below his season average pulling down five.
Ultimately a poor third-quarter cost OKC victory with the T-Wolves turning around a 10-point deficit to lead by six with 12 minutes to play.
Oklahoma did lead with less than a minute on the clock but a clutch three pointer from Robert Covington turned the match back in Minnesota's favour.
Paul George had a chance to clinch the game with a deep three off the final play, but he couldn't find the net and the Timberwolves secured a 114-112 win to prevent the Thunder from climbing above Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets for top spot in the Western Conference.
George led all scorers with 31 points, while Russell Westbrook scored 23. Andrew Wiggins drove the Timberwolves to victory scoring 30 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Newshub.
