Paul excites on debut but 'Cats overrun 36ers

The Adelaide 36ers leave the NBL Cup with mixed emotions having shown just what they were capable of with the inclusion of Brandon Paul for a half but then being overrun by the Perth Wildcats on Sunday.

The 36ers and Wildcats were playing the last game at the NBL Cup after four weeks of action in Melbourne and it just happened to be the first meeting of the season between the two rivals who have done battle more than anyone in league history.

The Wildcats had already secured the NBL Cup having won six of seven games coming into the battle with Adelaide, and the 36ers turned it on for likely their best basketball of the season so far in the first half.

The addition of new import Brandon Paul was the icing on the cake as the Sixers clicked in remarkably exciting fashion at both ends of the floor for the opening 20 minutes.

The 36ers closed the first quarter scoring 17 of the last 19 points to be up 13 having gone to the foul line 10 times.

Another 12-0 run during the second quarter really broke the game open before Paul caught fire and the 36ers led by as much as 26 points.

The Sixers were up 60-39 at half-time on the back of 16 points from Paul along with 14 from Daniel Johnson, 12 from Jack McVeigh and 11 from Sunday Dech along with Josh Giddey's 10 assists.

The 36ers looked unstoppable with Paul's impact immediate but as they so often do the Wildcats found a way to respond starting with the opening 19 points of the third quarter. That turned into them outscoring Adelaide 58 points to 28 in the second half to end up winning 97-88.

Despite the end result, the signs were largely encouraging for Adelaide highlighted by the debut performance of new import Brandon Paul. He finished with 25 points and three rebounds while shooting 6/10 from three-point territory.

Josh Giddey was terrific as well going ever so close to that elusive triple-double with 14 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and two steals. He shot well from beyond the arc too going 4/8.

Daniel Johnson added 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Jack McVeigh 12 points and two boards, Sunday Dech 12 points and two rebounds, Tony Crocker nine points and three boards, and Keanu Pinder two points and five rebounds.

Sixers coach Conner Henry was going up against his former team for the first time, and wasn’t surprised that they hit back so hard in the second half. That didn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed though.

"They're the defending champs and came out in the second half and were more physical than us, and showed a level of toughness that we are trying to get to," Henry said. 

"They took some things away from us in that second half that they didn’t in the first half and we kept moving the ball but they created a lot of turnovers. They got the momentum and it's then tough to stop. 

"And then they've got that MVP guy who is pretty good. It's disappointing but I'm proud of our guys nonetheless. We, as a group, continue to bounce back and we haven’t finished off some games lately so it's a process as painful as it is. 

"We're going through it and we get to go home tomorrow and rest up, and get ready for our next one."

Brandon Paul hit the floor for the first time four minutes into the game and made an immediate impact with five quick free-throws. The 36ers then ended the opening term with 12 straight points including a Jack McVeigh and-one play before he knocked down a three ball for the 28-15 lead.

Things really got flowing for the Sixers in the second term beginning with seven quickfire points from Sunday Dech as the lead was out to 14.

Then all of a sudden the 36ers went on another run of 12 straight points beginning with a couple of McVeigh triples before Paul threw down an alley-oop fast break slam on the pass from Dech before raising the roof.

He was feeling it immediately and knocked down a couple more threes and Adelaide shot 56 per cent for the half and went 8/16 from downtown to lead the Wildcats 60-39.

The second half wasn’t what the 36ers were hoping for though. Perth hit the first 19 points of the third quarter before a steadying Josh Giddey three-pointer. The Wildcats then scored the next eight points before Adelaide ended the third quarter with the last five points to still lead 68-64.

It wouldn’t last though. The 'Cats again scored the first seven points before the 36ers did show signs of life with another Giddey three and Tony Crocker bucket to retake a two-point lead.

That would be the last lead for Adelaide with the Wildcats proving unstoppable once they got rolling.

Adelaide is back to Melbourne as the regular NBL season continues next week to play the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday before a rematch with the Wildcats in Perth on Monday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 9
NBL CUP WEEK 4

ADELAIDE 36ERS 88 (Paul 25, Giddey 14, Johnson 14)

PERTH WILDCATS 97 (Cotton 34, Blanchfield 20, Mooney 17) 

POINTS AWARDED – Perth Wildcats 5, Adelaide 36ers 2

BOX SCORE