Match Preview: Championship Series on the line in Melbourne

The Adelaide 36ers will be looking to become the first side to book a spot in the NBL’s Championship Series when they come up against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in game two of their NBL Semi-Final series on Saturday evening.

In five meetings so far this season, the Sixers hold a narrow advantage, winning three of the matches including Tuesday night’s 107-94 victory in the first game of the Semi-Final series.

The last time the sides met in the NBL finals at John Cain Arena was last season when the Phoenix came from behind to win the play-in elimination game 85-75.

While the Phoenix will be keen to take the current series to a third game, a win to the Sixers would lock in their first Championship Series since 2018.

They would face the winner of the other Semi-Final series between Sydney and Perth.

Bryce Cotton was a standout performer in Tuesday night’s match with 42 points, and in five games against the Phoenix this season has averaged 29 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists, so Josh King will want to tighten up on the six-time NBL MVP.

The Phoenix produced strong rebound numbers (winning that stat 43-39) including 21 offensive boards but shot 40 per-cent from the field and only 28 per-cent from beyond the arc. Coupled with some early foul trouble, they just couldn’t get over the line in front of a hostile Adelaide crowd.

Adelaide co-captain Isaac Humphries said it was the best home crowd he had experienced at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre but knows it will be a different story on Saturday evening in front of the Phoenix fans.

He said he expected the Phoenix to have plenty of motivation to respond in front of their home crowd.

“That was our fifth time of playing them this season and it’s like a back-and-forth with strategy every time,” Humphries said.

“They’ll go back and look at how we changed our defence to play them and who we were ok with taking shots, etcetera and they’ll have to come back and find a counter.

“I was in training thinking ‘I wonder what they’re going to do now’. I don’t know the answer but they’ll definitely have to shift plans because we came out differently and it really worked for us so we’ll have to double down.

“At this point of the year it really is such a strategy game.”

Saturday evening’s game gets underway at 5:00pm ACDT / 5:30pm AEDT. If you can’t get to the venue, every NBL game is live on ESPN through Kayo Sports or Disney+.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX vs ADELAIDE 36ERS
John Cain Arena, Saturday 14 March, 5:00pm ACDT / 5:30pm AEDT
Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Disney+

OVERALL
Played 27, Adelaide 14, South East Melbourne 13

At John Cain Arena
Played 12, Adelaide 4, South East Melbourne 8

LAST FIVE MATCHES
Mar 10, 2026 – 36ers 104 def Phoenix 97 at AEC
Jan 31, 2026 – Phoenix 97 def 36ers 77 at AEC
Jan 18, 2026 – Phoenix 108 def 36ers 89 at RAC Arena, Perth (HoopsFest)
Nov 22, 2025 – 36ers 94 def Phoenix 81 at John Cain Arena
Oct 16, 2025 – 36ers 88 def Phoenix 71 at AEC

KEY STATS

·       Adelaide has won the second half in each of its last 10 away games after trailing at half-time.

·       Adelaide has lost the fourth quarter in eight of its last nine games at John Cain Arena after leading at three-quarter-time.

·       Adelaide has lost the first quarter in each of its last four games.

·       Adelaide has lost nine of its last 11 games at John Cain Arena.

·       Adelaide has won nine of its last 13 away games.

·       South East Melbourne has won each of its last 12 games at John Cain Arena following a loss.

·       The home team has won each of South East Melbourne's last seven finals games.