36ers impress in numbers, down flat Phoenix

The Adelaide 36ers overcame an early shooting slump to put together an impressive all-round performance with plenty of contributors to down a lacklustre South East Melbourne Phoenix at John Cain Arena. 

The 36ers have had an up-and-down season, but shown glimpses of their tantalising potential – this was one of those games. Despite starting heavy underdogs against a team many think can win their maiden NBL title, the 36ers shocked the league to take this 90-81 on their opponent’s floor. 

The 36ers and Phoenix have enjoyed a lively rivalry this season. Coming into this one, they’d split the four games (two apiece) that they’d played this season, and more remarkably had scored exactly 387 points against one another. In this game, clearly something had to give. 

Each team was a superstar down, with Ryan Broekhoff and Isaac Humphries missing for the Phoenix and 36ers respectively. It was a scrappy first quarter, the Adelaide 36ers shot an abysmal 18 per cent (3/16) in the opening period. Yet due to some success at the free-throw line, only trailed the Phoenix by one point (16-15).   

Keifer Sykes’ participation in the match was delayed due to some back spasms he suffered in the warmup, but emerged to play a part late in the first quarter. 

Ben Moore and Mitch Creek were the most productive for the Phoenix. They combined spectacularly at the start of the second when Creek improvised on a would-be three-pointer to instead assist Moore under the basket, which came with an and-one. 

Sixers rookie point-guard Josh Giddey, currently ranked the No. 13 NBA draft prospect, was at his playmaking best in the second quarter, as his five first half assists led to some improved shooting for his team. 

With a field-goal uptick to 42 per cent (13/31), the 36ers did enough to snag a five-point half-time lead (40-35). Giddey had a tidy nine points and nine assists in the match. 

Despite some foul trouble early, Brandon Paul worked his way into the match as the game went on. The former San Antonio Spurs player came to life in the third just as the 36ers began to put some distance between themselves and the Phoenix. 

In just 25 minutes of play, Paul finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. The 36ers’ captain Daniel Johnson was effective inside, with the veteran posting 22 points and eight rebounds for the match. 

As a Sunday Dech last-second lay-up granted the 36ers a 14-point three quarter-time lead (68-54), it became evident that things were not going the Phoenix’s way. Simon Mitchell’s men looked flat throughout most of the match, especially on the defensive end. 

When Dech made his first and second baskets of the fourth quarter, back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive trips down the court, the game was all but over. At that stage, the 36ers had established an 80-58 (22-point) lead with six minutes to play. 

Adelaide became clock watchers in the final stage, focusing solely on sucking the life out of the game and allowing the Phoenix to rack up 17 straight points to make it a seven-point match with just over two minutes to play. 

But it was too little, too late. Johnson stepped up to the line to hit two vital free throws to put an end to the run. Adelaide breathed a sigh of relief when they emerged with a nine-point win, 90-81. 

Sixers coach Conner Henry was especially pleased with the response to a disappointing loss to Cairns back on Wednesday night.

"You know, we're continuing to stick together. Cairns was a really disappointing loss for us. We looked each other in the eye and felt like we could do better and that was the case tonight," Henry said.

"They guys really played hard tonight, I thought we executed well out of the timeouts. They just kept grinding for the night. It results in really good play for us and belief and we just want to hang around the pack going forward for the season. 

"We knew the pressure was going to come. They were going to pick us up full-court. We wanted to play catch with each other, basic fundamentals. Whoever's got the ball can see you, don't hide behind a defender. 

"But then we weren't aggressive looking to score. We became kind of stagnant with it. We executed well after the timeout and got over the hump."

Phoenix Simon Mitchell just never quite felt like his team came out with the required mindset and that was disappointing.

"I feel like we had an element of that all game in ways that we couldn't sort of shake," Mitchell said.

"We've done that a few times over the last two years really we're we've found ourselves in an almost impossible position and we find something, but we need to find that earlier. 

"It showed that it was mental fatigue and that was disappointing. When our offence is flowing we tend to play a bit better at the defensive end and play a little bitter, but if it is stagnant our communication drops off. 

"Right now, I still think emotionally we're too fixated on how we're playing on the offensive end."

South East Melbourne hosts the Sydney Kings this coming Thursday while the 36ers have a Saturday night match-up against the table-topping Melbourne United back in Melbourne.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 14
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 81 (Creek 17, Gliddon 14, Le'Afa 14)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 90 (Johnson 22, McVeigh 18, Dech 16) 

BOX SCORE