Sixers to take positives from OT loss to Kings: Wells

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells says his side will learn plenty from its overtime loss to Sydney in the Ignite Cup on Wednesday night.

Bryce Cotton scored 25 points to go with six rebounds and nine assists but it wasn’t enough to drag his side over the line with the Kings winning 97-93.

The result leaves the Sixers with a 14-4 record and still top of the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder.

While the result ended a seven-game winning run and Wells admitted it “hurt a lot”, he said his side would learn a lot from the outcome, including understanding how better to play smaller in the absence of suspended big man Nick Rakocevic.

“You never want to take an L (loss),” Wells said after the game, “but I think the learning process with a group, we functioned pretty well at times and then I think that their pressure ramped up.

“You give them credit, they're a big physical team, and then, you know, the shots weren't just as clean, the set wasn't as clean, the shot clock was on us.

“And they kind of wore us down to the point where we just had to rush a little bit more.

“But I saw a bunch of positives there. There's a bunch of things that as a coach you can correct and teach, and you want to move the group forward, and you know, that's what we'll do.”

The Sixers spoke ahead of the game of wanting to get as many Ignite Cup points as possible in Canberra to maintain their hopes of making the final and they started well, claiming a point after leading 29-23 at the end of the first period.

While much of the focus was on Bryce Cotton after the Kings restricted him to just seven points in their last meeting back in October, it was another of the co-captains who came out firing with DJ Vasiljevic coming off the bench to hit 11 first quarter points.

He had 14 to the half to go with six rebounds and Cotton had 18 and five assists by that stage as the Sixers claimed a second point with a 13-point half time advantage. A highlight was Cotton landing a dunk after stealing the ball and running the floor.

At one stage they led by 18 before the Kings tightened up defensively and former Sixer Kendrick Davis hit his straps on the offensive end. With Isaac Humphries and Flynn Cameron racking up fouls, their minutes were limited and from there it was all Sydney.

The Kings started the second half with a 14-2 run and eventually took the lead as the Sixers struggled to sink their shots and were held to just nine points for the entire third period.

With a one-point deficit at the final break, the Sixers needed to get going and with an unwell Vasiljevic camped on the bench, they again turned to Cotton. After being held scoreless in the third period, he added seven points for the quarter and when Isaac White hit one of two free throws with six seconds left, the Sixers led by two points.

It gave the Kings the chance to go down the other end and push the game to overtime, and that’s exactly what Davis did.

While both sides had some success in overtime against Melbourne United in recent days, only one could triumph and with both looking tired, shots started to fail.

In the end the Kings found better looks made the most of their opportunities to claim victory.

“We're still sort of figuring out the offensive pieces and how that works,” Wells explained.

“Today, there was just opportunities. It felt like right there, but we were just a little bit out of sync in that second half.

“And you give them credit for their length and their athleticism and their pressure to try to change the pace of the game.

“I would love for us to set and be able to play downhill a little bit more, but it didn't happen.”

The Sixers will next head to Wollongong to face Illawarra on Saturday evening.