Proud Wells: “gut punch” will fuel Sixers in NBL27

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells says his side’s Championship-deciding loss to Sydney on Sunday evening was a “gut punch” after coming so close, but he has expressed his pride in the way his group battled together through the season.

The Sixers led in the dying stages but the Kings forced overtime and took charge to win 113-101 in front of a record NBL crowd of 18,589 at Qudos Bank Arena.

While admitting the loss stung in the moment, Wells said there was so much to be proud of.

“I think all year, the amount of times that we were down at least eight points in second halves and came back and won was something like 13, and, you know, to just keep competing and playing,” he said.

“We probably had that game won for about 39 minutes and 16 seconds or something.

“Unfortunately, that's why it's such a gut punch.”

Wells gave credit to his opposite number Brian Goorjian and his Kings side for being worthy champions.

“Congratulations to Brian, and that that team,” Wells said.

“Man, they've had a remarkable run since January 5th. Give them an absolute tonne of credit.

“You know, (they’re) such a really hard guard, and they’ve got so many weapons.”

With plenty of Sixers supporters in the Easter Sunday crowd, Cotton burst out of the blocks with 11 first period points, finding slivers of space while Kings defenders tried to blanket him at all times.

Isaac Humphries had six points to the quarter and when he was replaced by Nick Rakocevic the side lost little. He pulled down six first-quarter rebounds and added seven points of his own as the Sixers led by two points at the first break.

Cotton got to 18 points by half time, but with Xavier Cooks proving a continual scoring threat for the Kings, they took the lead thanks to a seven point scoring run just before half time.

A late basket to Humphries after a strong rebound meant the sides went to the locker rooms with the Kings in front by a single point 56-55.

The Kings came out full of steam but the Sixers put the clamps on in the third period, restricting the hosts to just 13 points while piling on 21 themselves with DJ Vasiljevic bringing himself into the game and Cotton adding another seven points for the quarter.

The Sixers seemed to have done everything right and with Cotton hitting three free throws, they led by four points with a little over 40 seconds to play, only for the Kings to come up big and push the game to overtime, where they ran out comfortable winners.

In that period the Sixers' shooting deserted them, and the Kings capitalised.

Wells summed it up well post-game, saying that coming so close would fuel his group for next season.

“Unfortunately, we probably needed one more play right there and we could have been having a little bit of a different press conference,” he smiled.

“But both teams just, you know, an amazing series, an amazing season…

“I feel very proud of the group, the professionalism in there this whole year. Their willingness to be coached… they got along amazing.

“I tried to, you know, with myself and Matt Weston, and Grant Kelly and Nick Barbato to try to put together a really quality locker room, to try to get the right people, and I just couldn't be prouder of them as human beings.

“The way we practised, and all the travel… there's some sting in there at the end. And hopefully that's fuel for us.

“Going forward, the future is definitely bright.”