Road warrior 36ers topple Kings

Adelaide 36ers have survived a third quarter burst from the defending champions to defeat Sydney Kings 92-88 at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday night.

Captain Mitch McCarron hit clutch free throws in the final seconds as Adelaide fought back from a final quarter deficit to win their second game of the NBL23 season.

The 36ers survived multiple Kings three-point attempts in the final moments and came up big with some clutch rebounds when it mattered most.

Adelaide started on target, Antonius Cleveland connected form deep, Robert Franks hit a jumper and when Craig Randall II landed a triple, the 36ers led 8-0.

Franks then hit a triple for 11-2, but the Kings fought back almost straight away, attacking the basket and scoring off hustle plays to cut the Adelaide advantage to 19-14.

Captain Mitch McCarron showed poise, with a couple of tidy putbacks to keep Adelaide with their noses in front 25-20 at the first break.

Randall II opened the second quarter with trademark triple, but the Kings continued to dominate inside the paint and started to connect from outside the arc.

A Cleveland steal and slam increased the Adelaide lead to 43-33 as Kings forward Xavier Cooks began to fire, his three-point play cut the 36ers margin in half.

Randall II, who had 16 points in the opening 20 minutes, connected again from downtown as the 36ers went into the changerooms 50-42 leaders.

Trailing by eight points at the main break, Walton Jnr took over after the main break as he led the defending champions to their fifth win of NBL23.

Walton Jnr, who finished with 23 points and six assists, fired the home side to open the second half, hitting a three-pointer, finding DJ Vasiljevic for another triple, then scoring inside to erase the Adelaide lead within the first two minutes.

As the Walton Jnr show continued, Tim Soares started to tick the scoreboard over from inside the paint as the Kings took the lead for the first time in the match at 56-52.

Adelaide’s shots started to dry up as the reigning champions got on a roll, outscoring the 36ers 29-18 in the third quarter as the Kings took a 71-68 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Sydney kept their noses in front and had an 80-75 lead with six minutes to go when Adelaide turned up the defensive pressure.

Back-to-back triples from Daniel Johnson tied the game at 81-81, then hit two free throws to give Adelaide the lead 85-84.

Randall II finished with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Cleveland added 15 points to go with seven rebounds and Franks had 13 points and five rebounds.

Final quarter heroes Johnson and McCarron also filled the stats sheet, the seven-time MVP had 17 points and eight rebounds, while the skipper added 15 points to go with five rebounds.

Adelaide are back at home on Brett Maher Court next Friday night, when the 36ers tackle the New Zealand Breakers.

ADELAIDE 92 (Randall II 24, Johnson 17, McCarron 15) def SYDNEY 88 (Walton Jnr 23, Vasiljevic 15, Noi 12) at Qudos Bank Arena.

BOXSCORE