Glen Rice's game-leading 30 points were not enough to save the NZ Breakers, as they slumped 108-90 to their ninth loss of the Australian NBL season against Cairns Taipans.
The Auckland-based side never led the contest, falling 22 points behind during the third quarter, before briefly rallying within single figures (81-73) in the final stanza.
Since joining the Breakers a month ago, Rice has been "suspended indefinitely", facing charges of assault, after a late-night scuffle at a central Auckland bar.
But the Basketball Australia Integrity cleared him to play on Friday, after video footage showed the troubled American was provoked by a member of the public.
Rice responded with a virtuoso display that showcased his individual talents, but was ultimately unable to lift the Breakers to victory. He flirted with a statistical 'triple double', adding 12 rebounds and eight assists to his scoring exploits.
Fellow American Sek Henry scored 19 points off the bench, reserve guard Jarrad Weeks had 15 points to celebrate his 150th ANBL appearance, while American forward Brandon Ashley achieved a 'double double' of 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Tall Blacks centre Rob Loe also returned from a spell on the sidelines, after suffering a skull fracture in October, scoring five points in 12 minutes off the bench.
The Breakers enjoyed a big advantage on the boards, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds and attempting 18 more attempts on goal.
But without injured shooters Scotty Hopson and Corey Webster, the Breakers managed just 7/29 (24 percent) from beyond the three-point arc and found themselves in early foul trouble that gifted their rivals regular visits to the free-throw line.
Defensively, they leaked 30 points in the opening two quarters and allowed six Taipans players to reach double-figure scoring, paced by Brazilian Scott Machado's 22 points.
The result marked Cairns' fourth win in five outings, but saw the Breakers fall to three wins, nine losses for the season, sharing bottom spot on the competition table with Illawarra Hawks.
While the return of Rice and Loe was good news for basketball director Dan Shamir, he was visibly frustrated at his inability to field all his best players at once and faces a difficult decision over which import to drop, with Hopson due back from his knee injury soon.
"Let's put it this way, it's been another challenging day in a challenging season," he reflected. "I don't want to make any excuses - it doesn't help anybody - but we were very unorganised, with the exception of a few minutes at the end of the third quarter."
Rice's offensive output largely came from broken play and did not help his team find continuity at either end of the court.
"We thought that once he was cleared, we needed to play him - we needed to have this weapon with us," said Shamir. "He has this ability to show up from nowhere and have - at least by the numbers - a good game.
"But honestly speaking, the coverage was not there and there was a lot of mess out on the floor. Definitely, that has to do with it.
"Glen is very talented, but what he is supposed to bring is not only scoring. He is taking a lot of shots. and he thinks he can score every time and wants to win every game, but what he should bring us is to make the team play better."
The Breakers return home to host Brisbane Bullets on Monday.
