Plenty of Sixers step up in improved showing at NBL Cup

Nobody is satisfied with honourable losses but there was a lot to like about the improved Adelaide 36ers performance without the presence of Isaac Humphries in a narrow loss at the NBL Cup to the Illawarra Hawks on Thursday.

The 36ers lost their two matches last week at the NBL Cup in Melbourne and the first of those against Melbourne United saw them put together a spirited fightback from being down 36-10 early in the second quarter to be the better team the rest of the day and have a shot at snatching it.

But a couple of days later against the New Zealand Breakers started similarly but there would be no comeback and then to top it off, the 36ers lost imposing big man and MVP fancy Isaac Humphries to a foot injury.

That was back on Saturday, though, and the Sixers had a chance to refresh and regroup before taking on the Hawks at the State Basketball Centre on Thursday night, and it was a vastly improved performance.

Firstly the start was much better from Adelaide as they raced out to a 17-6 lead with Tony Crocker and Sunday Dech on fire.

Adelaide still led at quarter-time and were two points to the good at half-time on the back 13 points from Crocker and 10 from Dech along with shooting 19/37 from the field and having just one turnover.

Scores were then all square by three quarter-time and despite continuing to fight, the 36ers just came up short and the Hawks pulled away to win 98-89.

Tony Crocker stepped up huge for the 36ers to deliver the best game of his NBL career with 23 points on 10/19 shooting from the floor. His aggression to look for his shot and to attack the basket was impressive.

Josh Giddey had a good game running the point in front of Boomers and Hawks coach Brian Goorjian to finish with 14 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals as well.

Daniel Johnson fought as hard as ever for 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists with Jack McVeigh seeing his role increase and making the most of it with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Sunday Dech came up big for the 36ers as well with 14 points, four assists and two steals while Keanu Pinder scored three points and Jeremy Kendle two.

Sixers coach Connor Henry said the signs were good for much of the game but they paid for a slow start to the last quarter.

"There is no making excuses, we lose our starting centre so we have to play a certain way and I felt we addressed that the last couple of days," Henry said.

"We put in a good effort out there but offensively we just didn’t get it done."

Giddey said the Sixers knew they had to find a way to win.

"We had guys step up tonight, Jack McVeigh was awesome at the four spot tonight, he gave us some big plays on both ends," Giddey said.

"We were good for 85 to 90 per cent of this match but there was that early period in the last quarter where we let them break the game open a bit. If we can clean up on the defensive end then we will be good."

The 36ers started much better after the slow opening against Melbourne and New Zealand. Tony Crocker and Daniel Johnson hit the first two buckets before Sunday Dech hit a three, Josh Giddey scored on a floater, Crocker connected from deep and Dech scored again.

Suddenly the Sixers were on top 17-6 and then triples to Johnson and Dech to close the quarter helped Adelaide still be up 27-21 after one.

Illawarra closed the deficit in the early part of the second quarter on the back of some hot shooting led by Tyler Harvey, but the 36ers did well to steady firstly with three baskets from Crocker. McVeigh then scored five quick points to leave the 36ers still on top 48-46 at half-time.

Illawarra began to pull away to start the second half before Giddey steadied Adelaide with a three ball. Johnson then converted an and-one and hit from deep before Giddey nailed another triple.

But still the 36ers were just clinging on and scores were only tied at three quarter-time thanks to a McVeigh buzzer-beater.

The Hawks then scored the first nine fourth quarter points before McVeigh hit a three for Adelaide. Crocker hit another couple of three balls to keep the 36ers within tough but Illawarra delivered another 6-0 run to guarantee the nine-point win.

The 36ers now have another short turnaround before facing the Cairns Taipans on Saturday as the NBL Cup continues.

2020/21 Hungry Jack's NBL Season - Round 8
NBL Cup Week 3

ADELAIDE 36ERS 89 (Crocker 23, Johnson 17, McVeigh 16)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 98 (Harvey 24, Adel 19, Bairstow 14) 

Points Awarded – Illawarra Hawks 6, Adelaide 36ers 1

Box Score