A weary Sydney Kings suffered a second-half fade-out to lose their NBL season-opener 105-96 to the Adelaide 36ers at Qudos Bank Arena.
Six days after an exhibition game against NBA side Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, the Kings were out-hustled and out-muscled by Adelaide in the second half in Sydney on Saturday night.
Adelaide's win went some way to easing the pain of Thursday night's two-point home loss to Melbourne United in the opening game of the 2017/18 campaign.
The Sixers built their win on Saturday on a strong work ethic under the boards, grabbing 26 rebounds to the home team's 12 in the second half.