Wells: Reset sparked Adelaide’s Game 1 response

Mike Wells wasn’t sure whether a 16-day break would help or hurt his side heading into the Playoffs. After Tuesday night’s Game 1 win, it appears the time off was exactly what the Adelaide 36ers needed.

For much of NBL26, Adelaide looked every bit a title contender. The Sixers still finished the regular season second at 23-10 to secure an automatic Playoff berth, but they had stumbled late, losing six of their final 10 games.

Their momentum was further dented by defeat in the Ignite Cup Final on the Gold Coast, leaving them with more than two weeks between games before hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

In contrast, the Phoenix arrived battle-ready after defeating the Perth Wildcats the previous Wednesday to book their Playoff spot.

But with the benefit of hindsight after Adelaide’s 104-97 Game 1 victory, Wells believes the extended preparation ultimately worked in his team’s favour.

"That was a real Playoff game, they're a really good team, the crowd was into it and I'm super proud of our guys after so many days off to be able to make plays and find a way to win," Wells said.

"I really felt like we probably needed a bit of a reset but 16 days, or whatever it's been since we played, we needed to get home to Adelaide and sleep in our beds for a while and actually practice.

"We travelled so much over the end that we just didn’t have a chance to really practice and this group has a lot of character, and they tried to really dial into the things that we think can get better."

Adelaide had struggled in its final two regular season meetings with South East Melbourne, dropping both games inside a fortnight by a combined 39 points.

Those contests were largely played on the Phoenix’s terms, but Wells felt Tuesday’s clash was much more in Adelaide’s control.

That came despite South East Melbourne winning the possession battle with 21 offensive rebounds and 13 more field goal attempts.

Wells attributed much of that to the Phoenix launching 43 three point attempts. They made just 12 and missed 51 shots overall, creating far more opportunities for offensive rebounds.

For the most part, the Sixers executed the game plan they believed would give them the edge, which ultimately helped them secure the Game 1 victory and move within one win of their first Championship Series appearance since 2018.

"I didn’t think the pace really mattered, I think the pace was probably off just our defence and some of the things on the defensive end," Wells said.

"We know that there's an analytical component to this where you have to be to have a chance to beat these guys coz they're so talented, and they play a certain way and they try to speed certain things up and shoot a bunch of threes.

"There's a formula in there that you have to find your sweet spot to be able to beat them and I thought for the most part tonight we controlled the tempo, and it looked a lot like that first two times we played them.

"They'll try to change that and the good part of the offensive rebounds they got is that it was because there was a lot of missed shots, and when you take 43 threes, that can lead to long rebounds.

"I give our guys credit and it doesn't really matter if we won the game, it doesn’t. It's going to be a point for everybody else to talk about in the games we lost, but if we win it does not matter."

Game 2 of the Playoff Series will take place on Saturday at 5.30pm AEDT at John Cain Arena, live on ESPN.