Bullets fire past 36ers in overtime thriller

Brisbane Bullets held their nerve down the stretch to defeat Adelaide 36ers 106-101 in overtime at Nissan Arena on Thursday night.

Adelaide fought their way back from a 13-point first half deficit to force an extra five minutes, but a 22-point performance from Jason Cadee led the Bullets home and handed Adelaide a fourth straight defeat.

Anthony Drmic tried his heart out for the 36ers, scoring a game high 20 points to go with six rebounds and Antonius Cleveland fought hard for 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, but Adelaide had no answer for Brisbane’s Tyler Johnson.

Johnson scored a game-high 27 points off the bench and came up clutch down the stretch as the Bullets scored when it mattered most.

Brisbane, who snapped a five-game losing streak with an 84-79 victory against South East Melbourne Phoenix at the State Basketball Centre on Monday night, started like a team with confidence and opened up an early 14-7 lead.

The 36ers, who missed captain Mitch McCarron due to family reasons, opened tentatively at both ends of the floor, but slowly built their way into the contest by attacking the basket.

Cadee continued his hot form, after having a game-high 28 points against the Phoenix, the point guard scored 14 opening quarter points as the home side took a 27-20 lead at the first break.

The home side found their range from beyond the arc and was shooting with confidence as the Bullets opened up a 33-24 lead, but Kai Sotto (nine points, seven rebounds) led an Adelaide fightback.

Brisbane continued their hot shooting as the 36ers couldn’t find their hoop, the Bullets building a 41-28 lead midway through the second quarter.

The 36ers stopped Cadee from scoring a single point in the second quarter, but DJ Mitchell stepped up scoring nine first half points as Brisbane took a 47-38 lead into the main break.  

Adelaide opened the third quarter with a newfound focus, Drmic and Robert Franks scored five points each as the 36ers cut the margin to 49-48.

Cleveland gave the 36ers the lead with a tough layup, but the home side responded straight away through Aron Baynes (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Mitchell.

The Bullets found their groove again, Baynes started to dominate inside as the home side again found themselves with a seven-point lead.

Adelaide then went on a 10-2 run and Cleveland put the visitors in front again 65-64, and when Sunday Dech hit a three-pointer, the 36ers lead was 70-66.

Hyrum Harris was then called for a technical foul and when Johnson hit a triple on the three quarter time buzzer, the Bullets ended the stanza on a 7-0 run to take a 73-70 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Johnson started to heat up and the home side had a six-point lead, but Drmic’s endeavour tried to lift the 36ers back into the contest.

Harris came back into the contest and responded with a tough three-point play, then Franks cut the Brisbane lead to 80-79 with five minutes remaining.

Johnson then stood up for the Bullets with a jump shot for a two-point lead with five seconds to go.

Cleveland was then fouled as he drove to the hoop and calmly hit two free throws to send the game to an extra five minutes.

But the Bullets came up with the big plays in the extra stanza to make Adelaide’s path to the NBL23 play-in more difficult, which starts with a must-win game against Melbourne United at home on Saturday.

BRISBANE BULLETS 106 (Johnson 27, Cadee 22, Mitchell 17) def ADELAIDE 36ERS 101 (Drmic 20, Cleveland 18, Franks 17) at Nissan Arena.
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