Next tier of Phoenix stars break 36ers hearts

The Adelaide 36ers will be having nightmares of John Cain Arena after having a second win in six days at the building snatched away and this time it was the Izayah Le'afa, Yanni Wetzell led South East Melbourne that broke their hearts in overtime on Saturday.

The 36ers produced their best first half of the season back on Sunday. They put 60 points on the board, new import Brandon Paul had 16 points in the opening half alone on debut and they had blown the Perth Wildcats away to be up by as much as 26.

But they then conceded the opening 19 points of the second half and couldn’t stop the rot before going on to finish the NBL Cup on a distasteful note. 

So the NBL Cup might be over, but the Sixers returned to Melbourne to face the Phoenix on Saturday and it was a South East Melbourne team minus Mitch Creek and Keifer Sykes so the door was open for them to bounce back.

And the signs were great again for most of the night. This time, Adelaide built on a five-point lead at the half by coming out with an 11-2 run to start the second half. They would end up leading by as much as 14 and were still seven up when Paul drained another three ball with 1:30 remaining.

Paul had delivered 15 points in a stunning fourth quarter, but there was more heartbreak to come for this 36ers team. Ben Moore, Yanni Wetzell and Kyle Adnam combined for a 7-0 run to send the game into overtime, and in the extra period the Phoenix were unstoppable. 

Inspired by emerging New Zealand point guard Izayah Le'afa whose defence was brilliant and his offence team lifting, South East Melbourne outscored Adelaide 14 points to seven to claim the seven-point win and to make it four consecutive wins for the first time in club history.

To have done it without Creek and Sykes makes the win all the more meritorious for the Phoenix. What a night they got from their new starting big men combination too. 

Moore started for the first time and delivered 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 8/9 shooting while Wetzell was brilliant with 22 points, six boards and four assists on 10/16 from the field.

Adnam delivered again when it mattered for South East Melbourne with 13 points while Cam Gliddon shook off a rough shooting night where he went 3/13 from deep to hit a huge triple in overtime for 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Le'afa's numbers of 10 points and two steals only partly tell the story of his impact while Adam Gibson successfully returned for eight points. Ryan Broekhoff only appeared for 11 minutes and three points, though, on 1/5 shooting.

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell might not have liked the way his team executed for the most part, but couldn’t fault their heart and fight they showed that helped them prevail in the finish.

"It was an unusual one and didn’t really have a lot of flow to it. Offensively we struggled at times but what I loved was our endeavour on the boards," Mitchell said. 

"At times during the season we've struggled to get second shots and to keep guys off the boards, but I thought we did a tremendous job of that tonight. So that's a real positive and I loved the work of Izayah Le'afa coming off the bench. I thought he really led us down the stretch and was fantastic. 

"For the rest of it, I'm just glad that we got some minutes into some guys who badly need minutes and I loved getting a win too."

Once again, Adelaide did so much right. They took the lead a minute into the game and didn’t surrender it until it was early into the overtime period, but it's going to be another tough pill to swallow.

Josh Giddey was brilliant flirting again with a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists but the Sixers face a nervous wait after he rolled his ankle late in the piece.

New import Paul worked into it nicely for 20 points and three assists including going 4/9 from deep while Daniel Johnson had 15 points, Sunday Dech 13 points, Tony Crocker 10 points and Jack McVeigh 10 points.

Sixers coach Conner Henry was frustrated with what he saw in the fourth quarter as his team let another winning position slide.

"Going into the fourth quarter we were right there and we talked about it, and addressed our starts and our finishes so it's tough," Henry said. 

"It's tough when there's 15 offensive rebounds and you've only got 10 turnovers going into the fourth, and then you turn it over seven times. I think there was four in the first six possessions to really give them a lot of life so we're back here in not a very good spot."

The 36ers have a short turnaround to head to Perth to face the Wildcats on Monday while the Phoenix are next in action against Melbourne United next Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 96 (Moore 23, Wetzell 22, Adnam 13, Gliddon 13)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 89 (Paul 20, Giddey 15, Johnson 15) 

BOX SCORE