Creek the key to stopping Phoenix run

Adelaide 36ers will be searching for a third straight win when South East Melbourne Phoenix come to the City of Churches for a Christmas Eve showdown on Saturday night.

The Phoenix, who have already defeated Adelaide twice in NBL23, will be keen to continue their recent winning form as well, but will be very shorthanded, with injuries to key players.

The 36ers will welcome Ian Clark to Adelaide for the first time in NBL23 and the NBA and NBL champion is the perfect Christmas present for head coach CJ Bruton.

Adelaide have been searching for a winning run all season, and will be asking Santa Claus for another victory on Saturday night.

THE KEY
Mitch Creek has been in sparkling form recently and the Phoenix’s marquee man has been the reason his side sit third on the ladder with a 12-7 record.

Creek scored a career-high 46 points to go with 10 rebounds in South East Melbourne’s 113-112 win against the league-leading Sydney Kings on Sunday, before backing up with 29 points and five rebounds in Wednesday night’s 104-77 demolition of Brisbane Bullets.

The 198cm swingman let his three-point shooting do the talking recently, especially when the Phoenix were too good for Adelaide 102-84 on December 11 at John Cain Arena.

Coach Simon Mitchell will have no option but to run his sides offense through Creek, who is definitely in MVP calculation alongside Sydney Kings’ Xavier Cooks, Cairns Taipans’ Keanu Pinder and Perth Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton.

THE SECRET
South East Melbourne have been decimated with injury and roster changes over the past week.

During the double overtime win against Sydney, the Phoenix lost import point guard Gary Browne (calf) and swingman Ryan Broekhoff (groin).

Then import big man Alan Williams came down with an ankle injury during South East Melbourne’s win in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Browne and Broekhoff have been ruled out for the next fortnight at least, but the availability of Williams remains uncertain for Saturday night.

The Phoenix have also lost big Zhou Qi, who decided to return to China for personal reasons earlier this week.

But South East Melbourne have enough depth to still be a huge threat on Christmas Eve.

Guard Owen Foxwell was injected into the game against Sydney and played a major role in the victory while Junior Madut will gain a lot of confidence from his added playing time.

Kyle Adnam, Reuben Te Rangi and Dane Pineau are proven NBL players and will step up to the challenge and also expect some added input from import guard Trey Kell.

THE FINAL WORD
Adelaide are primed to continue their winning streak after back-to-back home victories last round against the Bullets and JackJumpers.

With the Phoenix clearly not at full strength, the biggest challenge for the 36ers is to keep focus on the task at hand and not look ahead too quickly.

South East Melbourne, despite the injury toll, have talent right across the floor and any team which is led by Creek will give 110 per cent right until the final buzzer.

The perfect present for all 36ers fans will be a third straight win, but there is hard work still to be done.

DEPTH CHART
Adnam | Foxwell
Madut | Te Rangi
Kell III | Anticevich
Creek | Smith-Milner
Williams | Pineau | Rissetto