36ers go down in Perth on NBL22 opening night

The Adelaide 36ers might have fallen to the Perth Wildcats to open the NBL season on Friday night at RAC Arena, but attention quickly turns to Sunday at home to the Illawarra Hawks.

The 36ers were coming into the 2021/22 NBL season having gone through the NBL Blitz in Tasmania undefeated and winning the Loggins-Bruton Cup, but the opening night of the #NBL22 season proper in front of 11,950 fans in Perth proved a much different challenge.

While there were some good signs from an Adelaide point of view even in the absence of Sunday Dech, Kai Sotto, Manny Malou and Hyrum Harris, in the end the 37 points on debut for Perth from Vic Law was the major difference between the two teams.

The 36ers did win the battle of the boards with 45 rebounds to 35 including 13 offensive boards to 10 for 14 second chance points to nine in an encouraging sign moving forward.

Daniel Johnson caught fire in the second quarter as well for Adelaide and finished with 22 points and seven rebounds while perhaps the biggest positive was the form of Cam Bairstow in his first game for the 36ers. He delivered 15 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes.

Dusty Hannahs didn’t have the shooting night he would have hoped going 5/15 but still had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists while fellow import Todd Withers showed encouraging signs with seven points and 10 rebounds on just four field goal attempts.

Isaac Humphries also had eight points and five rebounds, captain Mitch McCarron flirted with a triple-double with seven points, nine assists, eight boards and three steals, and Next Star Mojave King four points.

Sixers coach CJ Bruton is now one game into life as a head coach in the NBL and took the positives out of the game despite the result looking towards Sunday at home to Illawarra.

"It was a great opportunity to get out and play an NBL game, and I look forward to many more," Bruton said.

"Everyone wants more time and everybody can say that pre-season is what it is but it's not about making excuses. We are working on different things as we keep building towards it, and the more pieces that we add to the puzzle we'll be better for it.

"Cam Bairstow is a pro. From his early days at Churchy to his run at New Mexico and then time with the Boomers and in the NBA, he's had to fight through a few injuries and find his way. He's a soldier and warrior, and we're grateful to have him on our team."

Dusty Hannahs made a pretty bucket to open the game for Adelaide before Perth hit the next seven points. However, the Sixers responded by forcing some turnovers and hitting the next seven points capped off with Cam Bairstow draining a three ball.

Bairstow added a strong three-point play soon after with Todd Withers hitting from downtown too, but it was the Wildcats leading 22-19 at the end of one.

Daniel Johnson hadn’t scored in the opening term for Adelaide but halfway through the second and he had 12 points all of a sudden. 

Bairstow also closed the first half with 13 points but despite the Sixers dominating the glass with 23 rebounds to 15 including eight offensive boards to three, it was Perth still leading 47-43 by the main break. 

Captain Mitch McCarron opened the second half with back-to-back buckets before Johnson scored again to put the visitors on top. Mojave King then hit a couple of quick buckets and two flop calls in favour of the 36ers had them leading by two with three to go in in the third term.

However, Perth closed out the third period on a 13-4 run to lead 70-63 and try as they might, the 36ers could never draw closer than within seven in the fourth quarter with the home team going on to win by 12 points.

The 36ers now finally head home for the first time in more than three weeks ahead of Sunday's clash with the Illawarra Hawks at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 1

ADELAIDE 36ERS 73 (Johnson 22, Bairstow 15, Hannahs 10) 

PERTH WILDCATS 85 (Law 37, Cotton 16, Travers 15)

BOX SCORE