Cotton, Sixers hit back over Phoenix

Bryce Cotton set them up in the first half and the Adelaide 36ers as a unit hit back in dominant fashion from their first loss of NBL26 with the 88-71 home victory against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Cotton struggled on Saturday night with just seven points on 3/10 shooting in the 24-point loss to the Sydney Kings as they returned to Adelaide Entertainment Centre to host the Phoenix on Thursday.

Cotton turned it on with 23 points in the first half on his way to 28 in the game with six assists as he remained unbeaten in four games against the Josh King-coached Phoenix now dating back to last season.

Isaac Humphries was a powerful force inside again for Adelaide too with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks with DJ Vasiljevic chipping in with eight points and three boards, and Zylan Cheatham eight points, 14 rebounds and three assists.

The Phoenix still only ended up shooting 33 per cent for the game with Jordan Hunter top-scoring with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Nathan Sobey had a tough shooting night going 4/14 for 12 points in his 300th NBL appearance while Angus Glover added 11 points and Next Star Malique Lewis 11 on hitting 3/6 from downtown.

Cotton started off with a three in the opening seconds and capped a commanding quarter by shaking Nathan Sobey and drilling a jumper from the corner.

Cotton racked up 15 for the term to see the 36ers sprint clear 28-16.

South East Melbourne import John Brown III had to take a seat after following a reach-in foul with a technical foul for dissent as Adelaide's advantage swelled to 43-19 on Cotton's steal and lay-up.

Another technical against the Phoenix bench compounded the woes for the visitors, whose shooting was abysmal.

They misfired at 10/44 for the half, including 1/16 from three-point territory.

At the other end, Cotton continued to fire, racking up 23 first-half points as the Sixers held sway 50-27 at the main break.

Cotton launched the third stanza with his fourth trey, and Humphries dominated in the paint as the margin ballooned to 28 points.

The Phoenix belatedly started dropping shots, while Adelaide's ball use became increasingly sloppy, but the gap remained an unassailable 66-45 at three quarter-time.

When captain DJ Vasiljevic ended his cold snap by finally nailing his first field goal of the evening - a three-pointer in the opening stages of the fourth - the 36ers were back on track, before the Phoenix made some late ground as the hosts cleared their bench.

Both teams back up again this weekend with the 36ers on the road to a Jack McVeigh-less Cairns Taipans while the Phoenix will be at home to the defending champion Illawarra Hawks on Saturday too in a Playoffs rematch.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

ADELAIDE 36ERS 88 (Cotton 28, Humphries 21, Vasiljevic 8, Cheatham 8)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 71 (Hunter 16, Sobey 12, Glover 11)

BOX SCORE