Round 14 Preview v Cairns Taipans

The Adelaide 36ers have won consecutive games just for the second time this season, the signs have been encouraging at home with those two impressive wins and now the Sixers look to continue the momentum away to the Taipans in Cairns on Wednesday.

Last time the teams met was just under three weeks ago also in Cairns. The Sixers lost a fifth straight but they had arrived in Cairns significantly shorthanded without Isaac Humphries, Josh Giddey and Keanu Pinder.

They struggled as a result but you couldn’t fault the efforts of Daniel Johnson who delivered another 21 points and six rebounds. Jack McVeigh made the most of his starting role with 15 points while Sunday Dech fought hard too for 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. 

But the 36ers simply needed more from imports Tony Crocker and Brandon Paul who combined for 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on 4/15 shooting from the field and 2/8 from three-point range.

And you couldn’t help but be impressed with the response from the 36ers in the two home games since especially with the absence of Humphries and Crocker for the wins against the Hawks and Wildcats.

The 36ers have now won consecutive matches for the first time since they won three straight way back at the end of January. 

They had lost five in-a-row to close the NBL Cup and then on the road to South East Melbourne, Perth and Cairns, but they have enjoyed their home coming the past two weeks.

They snapped their losing streak by beating the Illawarra Hawks 84-72 and then a week later they also snapped the nine-game winning run of the Perth Wildcats with an 83-68 victory. 

Highlighting what a feat that was is that it's the only game the 'Cats have lost in their past 11 attempts, and their only loss since March 5.

With Daniel Johnson and Josh Giddey outstanding leading the way with support from Brandon Paul, Jack McVeigh, Sunday Dech, Keanu Pinder and Daniel Dillon, they have put together some of their best basketball of the season and will look to continue that on the road in Cairns on Wednesday.

Johnson sure enjoys playing in Cairns and overall coming up against the Taipans. Last season he scored his career high of 38 points against the Snakes while in the two games this season he is averaging 25.5 points. 

That makes it the best average of his career against the Taipans with five of his highest eight scoring games coming against them.

DJ also arrives in Cairns in impressive form having averaged 23.5 points over the last four games while shooting the three ball at 45 per cent in that stretch and having hit 20 consecutive free-throws.

That elusive triple-double is seemingly on the verge of happening and as Josh Giddey prepares to play in Cairns for the first time and with the chance the Taipans will be missing Scott Machado, the stars might be aligning. 

Over his past five games, the Next Star who has been rated as high as No. 9 in NBA Draft projections has been averaging 14.8 points, 10.6 assists and 8.4 rebounds. His shooting is on the rise to and he's shooting the three ball at 46 per cent over that period. 

While Taipans guard Machado leads the league in assists at 7.4 a game, Giddey is averaging double his number over the past five rounds and he'll look to put on a show in Cairns on Wednesday night.

Looking back to Saturday night and Adelaide coach Conner Henry saw a lot to like in his team's win over the Perth Wildcats, and he hopes they can continue that momentum on with them now in Cairns on Wednesday.

"It was a really good win for us. The last two have been good and we're just trying to stick to a process these last two or three weeks to try and get out of the losing streak," Henry said.

"So we've gone back to the basics and have asked for a level of understanding and commitment from the guys, and they've met it. They have really worked hard on the days that we've had time to train and we keep talking about that. 

"We want to get the ball through hands, trust the process, understand the scout and have a good time doing it. I think the group has settled into that message and it has resulted in a couple of wins."

While in the bigger picture at 9-13 finals are still within reach for the 36ers in #NBL21, but Henry will ensure his team doesn’t looking any further ahead than the job that awaits in Cairns on Wednesday night.

"We have 14 games left and we'd love to continue to build this thing and get closer to .500 and see what happens. But we're not looking past anybody and we're just focusing on our work, recovering, getting into training and preparing for Cairns," Henry said.

"We just want to continue to build confidence and we know Ice will be back soon so we can add another major piece to us. It's nice that we're winning and we're just going to stick with what we are doing, head up to Cairns and hopefully the pleasing results can continue."

HUNGRY JACK'S 2021 NBL SEASON – ROUND 14

ADELAIDE 36ERS v CAIRNS TAIPANS
Cairns Pop-Up Arena, Wednesday 7.00pm ACDT

Broadcast – ESPN, SBS on Demand, NBL TV, Twitch