Sixers show heart to threaten most remarkable of comebacks

If you measure a team's heart by how they respond in tough situations then this Adelaide 36ers team passed with flying colours despite an eventual 82-73 loss to Melbourne United on Thursday night.

The 36ers took on United at Melbourne's John Cain Arena as part of the NBL Cup and it's fair to say the game didn’t get off to the ideal start.

In fact by early in the second quarter, it was looking downright ugly with Melbourne leading 36-10 and Adelaide needing to respond to avoid it turning into a horror show that might be tough to recover from.

Now as it turned out, that did turn out to be a match-winning advantage for United but only just and the fighting spirit, character and heart shown by the Sixers to stem the tide, turn the momentum and control much of the last 28 minutes of the game deserves enormous credit.

The fact is it didn’t result in the win so you can't celebrate too hard but there is plenty for the 36ers to take out of the way they were able to turn such a bad start into playing some good basketball the rest of the way.

From the moment Melbourne was up 36-10, the 36ers outscored United 63 points to 46 and actually won each of the last three quarters to still take three of the seven points available during the NBL Cup.

The fact Adelaide held Melbourne to just 51 points over the last three quarters after conceding 31 in the first period says it all about how they turned the tide.

There was even a brief chance Adelaide could have snatched the win in what would have been one of the most stunning NBL comebacks ever. Jeremy Kendle shot them to within four points with a minute to go but it wasn’t quite to be.

Daniel Johnson ended up top-scoring for the Sixers with 14 points and eight rebounds with Josh Giddey finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist.

Tony Crocker also had 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals, Jeremy Kendle 12 points, Isaac Humphries nine points and eight rebounds, Jack McVeigh six points and two steals, and Sunday Dech six points and four assists. 

Adelaide coach Conner Henry was proud of his team for the fight they showed but saw a chance they could have even closed it out better.

"They came out with a blistering pace, sharing the basketball and went big on big, and were getting great shots," Henry said.

"We got two good looking threes early and an inside touch, and missed all three of them and next thing you know it's 8-nothing and spiralling out of control. All in all, we fought back and that should be the story of this game. I'm proud of the fellas for doing that. 

"We kinda wrestled the tempo back to our control and then were able to keep it close throughout the third and into the fourth. We had numerous looks in that second half which we missed but it was a tough, physical hard fought game and we'll rest up and get ready for the next one."

The game could hardly have got to a worse start, there's no hiding behind that. Melbourne opened up with a 14-2 run before Adelaide had some reprieve with a Daniel Johnson three ball.

But Melbourne hit the next 11 points and went on to lead 31-8 by quarter-time, and then 36-10 by early in the second quarter.

Tony Crocker helped to stem the tide with a couple of big buckets for Adelaide but it was an improved defensive effort that was the key to turning things around and they held Melbourne to just the 11 points the rest of the half.

In that time the Sixers were able to put up 24 points including a couple of baskets from Jack McVeigh and then two big triples from Josh Giddey to make the half-time deficit just the 13 points.

Adelaide closed to within 10 points then to start the second half when Sunday Dech hit a three ball. Later in the third period that was down to eight when McVeigh scored and the 36ers were still within striking distance down 12 at three quarter-time thanks to a couple of late scores from Crocker and Johnson.

Dech hit another three to keep Adelaide closer early in the fourth term before the Sixers were able to go on a 9-0 run with two big threes from Kendle to make it a four-point ball game.

An unsportsmanlike call on Crocker helped Melbourne to four points but soon after Kendle knocked down another triple to make it a four-point game. The 36ers couldn’t quite get closer but it was a spirited performance to make a game of it.

The 36ers are back in action in the NBL Cup on Saturday against the New Zealand Breakers.

2020/21 Hungry Jack's NBL Season - Round 7
NBL Cup Week 2

ADELAIDE 36ERS 73 (Johnson 14, Giddey 13, Crocker 13) 

MELBOURNE UNITED 82 (McCarron 18, Hopson 14, Landale 12)

Points Awarded – Melbourne United 4, Adelaide 36ers 3

Box Score