DJ, Sunday show the way as 36ers fire

Daniel Johnson turned it on offensively, Sunday Dech came up huge defensively and their teammates came along for the ride as the Adelaide 36ers scored an impressive 81-71 win over the Cairns Taipans at the NBL Cup on Saturday.

It did loom as a big challenge for the 36ers up against the Taipans at Melbourne's John Cain Arena on Saturday.

The Sixers had lost three games in-a-row including that forgettable effort against New Zealand last Saturday before a competitive showing in a loss to Illawarra on Thursday in the first game without imposing centre Isaac Humphries.

There was every chance the Snakes could try to exploit the absence of Humphries with Cam Oliver and Nate Jawai, but that never eventuated and the longer the game went on the better the 36ers played and were able to keep Cairns in check.

It was a tight game most of the way, but the 36ers blew it open early in the fourth term starting with a Sunday Dech triple. 

Daniel Johnson then shut the door on the Taipans with seven quick points as the lead got out to double-figures for the first time in the game and the 36ers went on to win by 10.

While Adelaide had plenty of strong contributors, it was Johnson and Dech who were the match-winners.

Having already put up his career-high of 38 points against Cairns last season, Johnson had another night out against the Snakes with 30 points, nine rebounds and two assists on 10/18 shooting from the field and 9/10 from the foul line.

Dech was solid offensively with nine points but his defence on Scott Machado was stifling. He also had five rebounds, two steals and a block while hounding Machado into nine points on 3/9 shooting.

Jack McVeigh came up big again for Adelaide as that makeshift four man with 14 points, three rebounds and two assists while Next Star Josh Giddey was exciting with 10 points, eight assists, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks – one of those even under the bucket on Nate Jawai.

Tony Crocker was solid again with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals while Keanu Pinder played a better game too with seven points, two rebounds and two steals.

Sixers coach Conner Henry was especially happy with some specific areas his team did well defensively in.

"First of all we needed to get a win. We don’t have two of our major pieces and had lost three in-a-row so this was a big game for us," Henry said.

"The guys played really hard the last game and in the previous training sessions we really came to work. Tonight's game a couple of things stood out to me specifically our on-ball defence. 

"Our bigs did a really good job in guarding their pick-and-roll and making it difficult for Machado, and we also thought we did a good job of taking away their threes. 

"They are a very good three-point shooting team when they get guys' feet set but we were able to stay close to their shooters for the most part. So those were the two defensive aspects that I was really proud of." 

Sunday Dech hit a three to open the game for Adelaide before a Daniel Johnson bucket and then Tony Crocker stopped a run of six straight Cairns points. Johnson and Jack McVeigh then put the Sixers on top before Daniel Dillon pulled off a steal and breakaway layup.

Jeremy Kendle put the 36ers on top again just before quarter-time but Cairns went in up 21-19.

Adelaide drew level again to start the second period with a triple from Keanu Pinder before Johnson really got rolling. 

He scored the team's next 10 points including a triple, and-one play and putback layup. McVeigh then knocked down a three to put Adelaide on top 41-38 at the half but it was largely on the back of 16 points and seven rebounds from Johnson. 

Holding Cam Oliver, Scott Machado and Nate Jawai to a combined six points and 2/9 shooting helped too.

Pinder added four quick points to start the second half to keep Adelaide in front before McVeigh hit five points in quick succession and Johnson kept getting to the line to ensure the 36ers were still on top 59-56 at three quarter-time.

Dech hit a big three early in the fourth to stretch the 36ers lead out to six and then Johnson sealed the deal by scoring the team's next seven points to see the lead grow to 11 and then it was still 10 by the final buzzer thanks to a three from Tony Crocker.

The 36ers now prepare to finish the NBL Cup against the Brisbane Bullets on Thursday and the Perth Wildcats next Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8

NBL CUP WEEK 3

ADELAIDE 36ERS 81 (Johnson 30, McVeigh 14, Giddey 10) 

CAIRNS TAIPANS 71 (Krslovic 12, King 11, Machado 9)

POINTS AWARDED – Adelaide 36ers 5.5, Cairns Taipans 1.5

BOX SCORE