DJ leads 36ers to opening OT win at Blitz

The Adelaide 36ers made the best possible start at the NBL Blitz on Sunday beating the Cairns Taipans 91-87 in overtime with Daniel Johnson dominant and despite four stars not suiting up.

It has been an eventful off-season for the 36ers in a lot of ways heading towards the #NBL22 season most notably with the change in head coach with CJ Bruton arriving to take over from Conner Henry.

However, there were plenty of exciting moves including the arrival of Mitch McCarron fresh off the championship with Melbourne United along with the re-signing of Isaac Humphries and the recruitment of a host of fresh faces.

But until they hit the floor against real opposition, you never quite know how things are all fitting together but based on what was shown on Sunday at Tasmania's MyState Bank Arena, there's plenty to be excited about with this 36ers team.

Making the performance all the more impressive for Adelaide was the fact that imports Todd Withers and Dusty Hannahs along with star centre Humphries and NBL Next Star Mojave King all didn’t suit up for the clash with the Taipans.

It was an impressive all-round showing from the 36ers. They did look like breaking the game open during the second quarter leading by as much as 14 points, and then did appear to have done enough in the final minute of regulation.

The Taipans were able to force overtime but then Daniel Johnson hit the first five points in the extra period, Manny Malou hit a mid-range jumper and the Sixers scored the four-point win.

Johnson took it upon himself to be a dominant force for the 36ers delivering 33 points, eight rebounds and three assists while shooting 12/25 from the floor and a perfect 7/7 at the foul line.

Tad Dufelmeier enjoyed the chance to play against his former team putting up 14 points, five rebounds and three steals as well for the Sixers while Manny Malou did well in his first appearance in Adelaide colours with nine points, five rebounds and two steals.

Cam Bairstow added strength and experience to the frontcourt and had eight points and 11 rebounds for Adelaide with Nick Marshall contributing seven points and five boards, Sunday Dech seven points, five rebounds and four assists, and Kai Sotto seven points and five rebounds.

New captain Mitch McCarron added four points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals while new development player Zac Gattorna put up two points, three rebounds and a blocked shot.

It was a bit of a scrappy opening quarter for the most part from both teams as they hit the floor to play real opposition for the first time this season, but the 36ers warmed to the task nicely in the second quarter.

Things were kickstarted with a spectacular drive and finish from new arrival Kai Sotto before his front court partner Daniel Johnson made the most of his green light to shoot. 

The six-time club MVP put up 16 points alone in the first half on 7/11 shooting with the Sixers opening up a lead as wide as 14 points during the opening half on the back of a 15-0 scoring run.

The Taipans were able to steady and cut the 36ers lead to six by the half-time break and then Cairns turned that into a 21-4 run to take the lead. However, Adelaide did well to steady things and scores were all square by three quarter-time.

Things remained tight throughout the fourth quarter with the lead continuing to fluctuate until Adelaide looked to open up a match-winning advantage with buckets to Tad Dufelmeier and Kai Sotto, and free throws to Manny Malou.

However, a goaltending call went in the favour of Cairns just before the buzzer to level the scores and force an overtime period.

Johnson opened up the extra period with a strong and-one play before he extended the Adelaide lead to five with another pair at the charity stripe to see him reach the 30-point mark. 

Malou then knocked down a corner triple to put Adelaide up by eight and this time there would be no Taipans fightback with the 36ers going on to win by four to mark life under CJ Bruton on a winning note.

The 36ers are back in action at the NBL Blitz in Tasmania against old foes the Perth Wildcats on Tuesday from 5pm.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL BLITZ

ADELAIDE 36ERS 91 (Johnson 33, Dufelmeier 14, Malou 9) 

CAIRNS TAIPANS 87 (Zimmerman 18, Deng 18, McCall 16)

BOX SCORE