Taipans too much at home for Sixers

The Cairns Taipans snapped their five-game losing streak and handed the Adelaide 36ers a fifth consecutive defeat with Cam Oliver back to some ominous form in Sunday's 79-65 victory.

The Snakes were playing their first home game at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena since back on February 8 when they defeated the New Zealand Breakers. 

While regular starters Majok Deng and Kouat Noi weren’t out there having gone down with long-term injuries, those Taipans that did play enjoyed the comforts of home once more to control the game virtually from start to finish and end up beating the 36ers by 14 points.

The Snakes broke the game open with 13 consecutive points either side of quarter-time and virtually held a double-figure lead the rest of the way with Cam Oliver closing the door on the contest with 10 points and two big blocks in the fourth quarter alone.

It was a morale booster for the Taipans too who had won just two of their 10 games since last playing at home with Oliver especially enjoying being back in front of the Orange Army delivering 19 points and 10 rebounds on 7/10 shooting from the floor and 3/5 from deep.

Scott Machado was also terrific with 17 points and six assists while Mirko Djeric added 13 points, Jarrod Kenny nine, Mojave King eight and Fabijan Krslovic six.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly was delighted with the effort and energy he saw from his group for the whole four quarters more than anything.

"I thought there was great energy from our guys and also from the fans. It was a great combination. Even when things didn’t go well and we were up and down on the court, their energy continued to be good and I was really happy about that," Kelly said.

"I think if we have that consistently then the other stuff will work itself out as we continue to work. I thought in the first quarter they came out and made some shots, and for the whole first half we really couldn’t get in a flow and were turning the ball over."

The Sixers have now lost five games in-a-row but they also arrived in Cairns significantly shorthanded without Isaac Humphries, Josh Giddey and Keanu Pinder.

They struggled as a result but you couldn’t fault the efforts of Daniel Johnson who delivered another 21 points and six rebounds.

Jack McVeigh made the most of his starting role with 15 points while Sunday Dech fought hard too for 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. 

But the 36ers simply needed more from imports Tony Crocker and Brandon Paul who combined for 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on 4/15 shooting from the field and 2/8 from three-point range.

Adelaide coach Conner Henry wasn’t looking for excuses for anything post-match, but there are explanations for some things given the circumstances.

"I think just overall it's really difficult for us at this moment. Like a lot of teams, we're battered, bruised and the cavalry's not coming to save us," Henry said. 

"We're fighting and we don't quit, and there's certain areas we've got to get better at. I would say that fatigue and a lack of size and rebounding ability are a couple of things that are hurting us among other things."

Mirko Djeric came out firing for Cairns with his team's first eight points including two triples but then Adelaide responded with threes to Tony Crocker, Jack McVeigh, Sunday Dech and Daniel Johnson to be up four.

But the Snakes closed the quarter on a 10-0 run with Mojave King hitting a pair of threes to put the home team up 24-18.

Cairns turned that into a 13-0 run with an and-one play from Scott Machado to start the second quarter before the lead blew out to 12 on the back of three balls from Cam Oliver and Machado. 

Another triple from Oliver saw the lead grow to 13 and while Adelaide battled hard to get back within nine, a half-court buzzer beater from Jarrod Kenny saw the Snakes take all the momentum into half-time up 46-34.

Cairns threatened to blow the game open with another 10-5 run midway through the third quarter. That saw the home team's lead grow to 16 but Johnson wasn’t giving up on it for Adelaide. He hit eight points late in the quarter to cut the Snakes lead to eight by three quarter-time.

The Taipans pretty much put the game beyond doubt starting the fourth quarter with the first six points including another triple from Kenny. Oliver then hit a purple patch with 10 fourth quarter points including a nice pull up jumper to close the door on the 14-point streak breaking victory for the Taipans.

The Taipans now prepare to take on Melbourne United at John Cain Arena on Friday while the 36ers are at home to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 11

CAIRNS TAIPANS 79 (Oliver 19, Machado 17, Djeric 13)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 65 (Johnson 21, McVeigh 15, Dech 11) 

BOX SCORE