Sixers come together to overcome Taipans at home

The Adelaide 36ers overcame a slow start to deliver a strong all-round team performance over the last three quarters to beat the Cairns Taipans 82-71 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon.

The Sixers were determined to continue their strong form in front of their home fans having beaten Melbourne United at the Entertainment Centre three weeks ago, and also to bounce back from last Friday's tough loss in Brisbane to the Bullets.

That didn’t look on track to be happening early in the game though. The Taipans shot out of the blocks to score 13 of the game's first 14 points, to lead by as much as 15 points in the first term.

The 36ers had to dig deep and they did, hitting the first 15 points of the second quarter to take the lead. They then started the second half strongly to shoot ahead and then continued to pull away the rest of the way to end up winning by 11 to improve to a 5-7 record on the season.

There was a lot to like from a 36ers perspective including forcing Cairns into 23 turnovers from which they scored 31 points while also only turning the ball over 12 times themselves.

The Sixers performance was full of impressive individual performances too led by Daniel Johnson with 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two impressive blocked shots.

Captain Mitch McCarron ran the team well for 14 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists with Sunday Dech adding 13 points and five assists, Dusty Hannahs 10 points, and Tad Dufelmeier nine points and three assists.

Cam Bairstow also had six points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks, Todd Withers six points, two boards and two steals, and Kai Sotto five points, five rebounds and three swats.

Sixers coach CJ Bruton was happy with his team's response to last Friday's loss and the slow start to this game.

"It was a little ugly, slow start. Knowing how they blew us out up in Cairns. Knowing that they have a lot of guys who can get out on the track and run lanes," Bruton said.

"I think they just responded. It is more that they boys responded. It shouldn’t have to take that, but we haven’t played in a while. 

"We didn’t want this one to slip now that they’re playing at home. Playing four games in eight days, I feel for Forde at this point. What you have to do is regroup and bounce back, and we did that."

Stephen Zimmerman gave the Taipans the perfect opening with the game's first five points. The only score for the 36ers in the opening five minutes was a lone free-throw to captain Mitch McCarron.

Following that, the Snakes scored eight straight points including a theft by Zimmerman on McCarron. The Cairns big man then took the ball up the other end to flush the finish for the 13-1 lead.

Eventually Adelaide made a field goal through Cam Bairstow at the five-minute mark. Dusty Hannahs hit the floor to drain a three and make another basket, but the Taipans were still up 23-9 by quarter-time thanks to a triple from rookie Bul Kuol.

Things certainly changed rather dramatically in the first five minutes of the second term. Cairns went 13-1 to start the first and then it was Adelaide going 15-0 to open the second period.

McCarron opened up hitting a three and then Sunday Dech finished inside leading to a quick Adam Forde timeout. It didn’t help with the 36ers still adding another 10 points including a McCarron alley-oop for a pretty Kai Sotto finish.

Suddenly the 36ers were leading 24-23 and it took Cairns almost six minutes to score, which came courtesy again of Zimmerman who had the best half of the season with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The game largely lived at the foul line the last four minutes with the 36ers and Taipans going into the half-time break tied at 34-apiece.

The Sixers then again started the third quarter impressively starting with a Tad Dufelmeier triple and a couple of nice finishes from Todd Withers. It took almost three minutes again for Cairns to score and it came from Tahjere McCall.

The teams largely traded baskets for much of the rest of the third quarter until a later Daniel Johnson three was enough to give Adelaide the 54-47 edge going into the fourth.

Hannahs then hit a three to start the last term to make it a double-figure lead. That soon blew out to 15 starting with a bomb from downtown by Dech before he secured a steal and finish. 

Dufelmeier then scored against his former team to make it a 15-point ball game with four minutes to go, and the Sixers cruised to the 11-point home win from there.

The 36ers now head back on the road to play the Illawarra Hawks on Friday before coming back to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday to host the Sydney Kings.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 12

ADELAIDE 36ERS 82 (Johnson 18, McCarron 14, Dech 13)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 71 (Zimmerman 21, Deng 12, Kuol 8, McCall 8) 

BOX SCORE