Sixers turn it on to snap Wildcats' streak

There wasn’t much to not like from the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Daniel Johnson dominated, Josh Giddey ran the show spectacularly, Keanu Pinder fired, Brandon Paul delivered and the Sixers beat old rivals the Perth Wildcats.

There had been glimpses of what the 36ers were capable of against the Wildcats in their first two meetings this season, but it all came together in spectacular fashion on Saturday night in the eventual 83-68 victory.

It made it back-to-back wins for the 36ers consolidating the home victory last Saturday night against the Illawarra Hawks while it also saw the Sixers snap the nine-game winning streak of the NBL-leading Wildcats.

Not only did the Adelaide offence flow impressively with the 46 per cent shooting from the field, 16/38 from three and the 24 assists, but defensively it was a standout performance.

The 36ers were able to hold the Wildcats to just 68 points on 26/71 shooting from the field and 8/34 from deep while Sunday Dech was instrumental in holding Bryce Cotton to just the 10 points on 3/15 shooting.

That made it less painful when Dech himself missed his first 10 field goals of the game. It was perhaps the best 2/13 game you are likely to see with him still contributing five points and 10 rebounds.

Then there was Daniel Johnson who just continued to prove that no matter how much recognition he receives, he is one of the best players in the NBL and has been for a decade. He delivered 28 points and eight rebounds on 11/14 from the field and 4/6 from beyond the arc.

Josh Giddey's all-round game was superb as well made up of 13 points, 12 assists and six rebounds while shooting 3/6 from three-point territory.

Brandon Paul showed what he's capable of too with 20 points on 5/12 shooting from beyond the arc while Keanu Pinder was the excitement machine putting together 12 points, four rebounds and four blocked shots.

Jack McVeigh also contributed five points and there is still Tony Crocker and Isaac Humphries to come back into this team.

It was a stunning opening shooting-wise from the 36ers with Daniel Johnson setting the tone starting the game with a three ball. Brandon Paul then hit five quick points, Johnson added five more and suddenly it was an 11-4 start against a Perth team on a nine-game winning streak.

Keanu Pinder then hit a pair of three-point shots, Josh Giddey hit his own to go with six early assists to set up his teammates and Adelaide was right on top up 24-13.

But Perth did well to close the gap back to four by quarter-time with a 6-1 run before both teams nailed a score of threes to start the second term. Todd Blanchfield and Jesse Wagstaff connected for Perth while Paul and Jack McVeigh hit for Adelaide.

Adelaide coach Conner Henry tasted his first victory against the Perth team he coached in the 2008/09 season, and he was especially delighted with the performance of Pinder.

"Since Ice (Humphries) has been out Keanu has really played much better. He's a lot more disciplined and you saw defensively he did a really nice job even though Mooney still had a nice game," Henry said.

"There was numerous possessions that he physically showed he can cover a lot of group because of his athleticism. He makes a stand in the paint versus the bigs and he's also able to slide his feet to guard a small on a switch. 

"His presence is huge and he's playing well right now and he is healthy. He's giving us some rim protection that we've been lacking since Isaac went out. He had a very nice game. I'm proud of him."

Another 6-0 run for the Sixers thanks to Giddey, McVeigh and Johnson then saw the home team's lead back out to 11 and it was still at eight by half-time.

It was hardly the ideal start to the second half for Adelaide with Perth hitting the opening six points, but the 36ers steadied well from there and actually held the Wildcats to just five points the rest of the way up until three quarter-time.

And up the other end, Giddey, Paul and Johnson knocked down three balls and the Sixers went into three quarter-time with a handy 56-46 advantage.

Paul nailed five points to open the fourth quarter to keep Adelaide on top by double-digits before it was Pinder's turn to put the game just about to bed. 

He firstly flew from nowhere to secure an offensive rebound. He then backed down his opponent and then finished unconventionally with his left hand. And then up the other end he swatted away a Bryce Cotton floater. It was what he's been promising all season.

Sunday Dech then dropped a three after being 0/10 from the floor and he scored again on a tip-in with Adelaide up 14, and from there they cruised to the impressive 15-point win at home.

The 36ers now return to the road and take on the Cairns Taipans in Far North Queensland on Wednesday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

ADELAIDE 36ERS 83 (Johnson 28, Paul 20, Giddey 13)

PERTH WILDCATS 68 (Mooney 18, Blanchfield 15, Wagstaff 11) 

BOX SCORE