Sixers fight hard but overwhelmed by United

Melbourne United stretched their NBL winning run to seven on Saturday evening but it wasn’t a game without positives for the Adelaide 36ers who now turn their attention to three games in the next eight days.

The Sixers returned to action in some fashion after a 31-day break on Tuesday night to beat the Perth Wildcats even on the back of just the five full practice sessions over that month-long layoff between matches.

They were back at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday with a significant challenge ahead up against a defending champion Melbourne United team arriving on a six-game winning streak and sitting on top of the standings.

However, just like they did on Tuesday against Perth, Adelaide made an impressive start to the game including going up 11-4 early and then 17-9, and still 24-17 later in the first quarter.

Melbourne, though, hit the last nine points of the opening period to snatch the lead and then never again surrender it the rest of the game on the way to the eventual 97-78 victory to extend their winning streak to seven.

It might seem a strange thing to say given the eventual 19-point margin, but Adelaide didn’t play as badly as that suggests or do a whole lot wrong. 

This Melbourne team is just seriously hard to play well against, highlighted by them forcing Adelaide into 13 turnovers from which they scored 19 points while having just seven turnovers themselves. 

The Sixers didn’t help their cause missing five of their first six free-throws either and ending up 10/17 at the stripe.

Cam Bairstow once again was a shining light in the starting role in the absence of Isaac Humphries for Adelaide, top-scoring with 18 points to go with eight rebounds.

Sunday Dech put up 13 points, four rebounds and two assists in his first start of the season while Dusty Hannahs made himself dangerous in under 18 minutes off the bench with 12 points.

Todd Withers added 12 points, Daniel Johnson eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks, Mitch McCarron three points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Kai Sotto six points and eight rebounds, Manny Malou four points, and Hyrum Harris two points.

In just their second game in 36 days and only their seventh game of the season, coach CJ Bruton said the 36ers are still finding their best rotations and it's not easy with players coming and going in terms of availability.

"I wanted to start more defensively, knowing that United is tough in that space so we went with Sunday but Dusty is like my Steph Curry, he will put points on the board and at different times we have seen him do that, we want him to do that," Bruton said. 

"If he gets the best sixth man award he will be happy with that, he wants to do whatever is best for the team.

"It takes 10 games to find out your best rotations. There are certain things behind the scenes that you guys aren't told about that we have to deal with and make the best of the situation.

"It's not always as perfect as it looks, but we are heading in the right direction. If we continue to play with that effort we will get better on the offensive end and on the defensive end that will shine through - and we will win more ball games along the way."

Sunday Dech earned the start in his second game back and hit an immediate three-pointer in response. Soon after Daniel Johnson and Cam Bairstow gave Adelaide the strong start inside for an 11-4 lead before a Melbourne timeout.

United got back into the contest with three-pointers from Chris Goulding, Jo Lual-Acuil, Brad Newley and Shea Ili, but the 36ers still went back up 24-17 late in the first period when Mitch McCarron and Dusty Hannahs hit three balls of their own.

However, Melbourne finished the quarter with 9-0 run to lead 26-24 by quarter-time.

United then threatened to open up a match-winning lead largely thanks to three more three-pointers from Goulding during the second term leading by as much as 16, but Adelaide found a spark just before half-time starting with Kai Sotto's first NBL field goal.

Hannahs then finished the half with a three-point play and the Sixers had done well to cut United's lead to seven at the main break.

Dech then started the second half how he opened the first with a three-point bomb and Manny Malou also came on to give the Sixers a spark hitting a three balls, but still Melbourne were clinging to a double-figure lead.

That was until the 36ers finished the third quarter on a 6-2 run thanks to Sotto, Todd Withers and Dech to be within eight heading into the final stanza.

Melbourne hit the first 10 points of the third quarter, and that saw the deficit for Adelaide grow to 18. While they kept fighting down the stretch the rest of the way, the final margin was still 19 in favour of the visitors.

There's little time for the 36ers to stew over the defeat with another game to come in Wollongong against the Illawarra Hawks on Monday before another clash in Tasmania on Thursday with the JackJumpers and returning home next Sunday for a return clash with United.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8

ADELAIDE 36ERS 78 (Bairstow 18, Dech 13, Withers 12, Hannahs 12)

MELBOURNE UNITED 97 (Goulding 18, Lual-Acuil 18, Hukporti 12, White 12) 

BOX SCORE