36ers ready to respond against Phoenix

Adelaide will be out to bounce back from Saturday night’s overtime loss when the 36ers battle South East Melbourne Phoenix at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday night.

Both sides are fighting for an NBL Play-In spot, and the Phoenix will be at their spiritual home in Knox due to the Australian Open tennis tournament.

South East Melbourne are on a three-game losing streak and haven’t won since Christmas Day in Tasmania, while the 36ers have won two of their past three matches across the previous seven days.

The Phoenix is battling injuries and Adelaide will be playing its fourth game in 11 days as the NBL24 season gets to the business end of the campaign.

THE KEY
Mitch Creek showed the rest of the league he is back from a knee injury which saw him miss games across the Christmas period, scoring a game-high 36 points against the Wildcats in Perth.

The 198cm power forward is averaging 20.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in NBL24 and remains South East Melbourne’s most important player.

Creek will go head-to-head with Jacob Wiley again in what looms as a marquee match-up as the 36ers need to quell the Phoenix captain’s influence.

South East Melbourne’s frontcourt is huge with Creek and centre Alan Williams a real focal point of the Phoenix attack.

Williams up against the in-form Isaac Humphries is another match-up crucial to the outcome on Wednesday night.

THE SECRET
Recruited mid-season, import swingman Abdel Nader has battled injury but has shown he can be a matchwinner for the Phoenix.

Currently coming back from a hand injury, Nader suited but did not hit the court in South East Melbourne’s 100-79 loss to the Wildcats in Perth last Saturday.

Nader is an NBA talent, having played 202 games with Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns across three seasons.

The 30-year-old is a scorer and has shown briefly in the NBL he can fill it up when required and becomes a real threat from the perimeter.

If Nader plays, expect Nick Marshall to get the chance to nullify his impact early, while Trey Kell could also be a likely candidate to match-up on the swingman.

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DEPTH CHART
PG: Ayre / Foxwell / Browne (inj)
SG: Kenyon / Rosendale
SF: Te Rangi / Nader / Stattmann / Moller (inj)
PF: Creek / Vague / Rapp
C: Gak / Rissetto / Williams (inj)

THE FINAL WORD
This is a must-win game for the 36ers. After Saturday’s overtime loss in Far North Queensland, Adelaide need to start winning to keep the Play-In dream alive.

Adelaide will take a lot of confidence from the last match-up against the Phoenix, where Adelaide fought back from an 18-point deficit to win 96-93 on Brett Maher Court.

The 36ers played three and a half quarters of great basketball in Cairns but will need to finish off their great work and require a four-quarter effort against the Phoenix.

There are a number of injury concerns, with Phoenix import Gary Browne potentially to sit out another game with a groin injury and Nader hasn’t got the green light either.

It’s the 36ers fourth game in 10 days and need to kickstart this two-game road trip with their second win away from home court this season.