The Road Diary: Antonius Cleveland

Throughout the NBL23 season, the Adelaide 36ers will bring you the behind the scenes stories of players and staff on the road.

As coach CJ Bruton said in his post-game press conference, Antonius Cleveland didn't train throughout the week as a result of an ankle injury, as the 36ers prepared to tackle the defending champs, the Sydney Kings.

Yet, 'AC' would make the flight to New South Wales, and was keen to get on the court.

"The flight (over) was smooth," he said.

"I was watching some of the highlights from the first weekend of the NBA.

"I hurt my ankle last game, so I've been rehabbing that and getting ready to play."

Aside from the NBL x NBA trip, it was Cleveland's first experience on the road as a 36er, and he said he was eager to take in a little bit more of the sights of Australia.

"I was feeling pretty good, I got a good breakfast in," he said.

"I went for a walk, then took like an hour nap and then I was ready to go.

"I always try to get a nap and this year I'm trying to enjoy Australia a little more, so when we go to different cities, I try to not sit in the hotel room from 11-5."

"I wanted to get a bite to eat and see what the city has to offer.

"I got back to the room closer to 3, I'm going to try and do that for each road trip."

Cleveland said he snuck in some shopping, before mother nature kicked in.

"I went to some mall, I didn't want to go too far," he said.

"It started raining on me, but it was cool, I just wanted to get out and see different things."

Come game time, Cleveland would set the trend for the night, scoring the first three to kickstart an 8-0 run to commence the game.

He'd finish the game with 15 points and seven rebounds as the 36ers won 92-88.

"It's good, I love playing in Qudos Bank Arena, because it's like an NBA arena," he said.

"There was a lot of fans, and they're a pretty good team, so every time you go there, you want to get the win.

"We didn't play our best."

Post-game in the changerooms, Cleveland and his teammates welcomed major partners Walker Corporation in the celebrations, and said the mood was good.

"Getting a win on the road is hard, you never want to take it for granted," he said.

"We reflected on what we did and know we've got a long way to go."

Back at the hotel and post-team dinner, Cleveland said some gaming was planned with Robert Franks but didn't eventuate.

"RoBo brought the PS5 but we didn't play, we got food, sat in the room and spoke before falling asleep," he said.

Returning back to Adelaide, Cleveland had a shoutout to his 'best friend'.

"It (the flight) wasn't too bad, I was just checking out the NBA scores on the flight," he said.

"Shoutout to my boy Damion Lee the game winner for the Suns."