Adelaide 36ers down Perth Wildcats on the road and show they can be a top-four team
Adelaide 36ers showed their top-four credentials with an impressive win over the Wildcats on their home court in Perth on Sunday.
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Adelaide has sent a statement to the rest of the NBL, taming the Wildcats on their home court in Perth.
After the Sydney Kings showed why they are the team to beat in this season’s NBL, the 36ers proved that they can be a top-four side in their own-right as they sent shockwaves through the league by triumphing 99-88 at what has been a fortress for Perth.
Sensational second and third quarters, in which Adelaide scored 52 points compared to Perth’s 30, set up the fine win, but the Sixers had to overcome their 27-point lead being cut to 14 at one stage in the fourth term.
These are our key takeaways from the game:
DJ’s Perth love
As a West Australian, Daniel Johnson loves playing in Perth and now it’s official - he is the most potent visiting player in the WA capital in history.
In what has already been a milestone year for the Sixers star - he played his 250th game for the franchise earlier this season - Johnson early on in the game surpassed Corey Williams as the visiting player with the most ever NBL points scored in Perth.
And buoyed by that, the tall showed why Perth has been such a happy hunting ground for him in the past.
At the half he had already scored 17 points, shooting 6-8 from the field, to go alongside six rebounds in the Sixers’ fine first-half showing.
No wonder Perth decided to double team him in the second half - but Johnson still ended up with 29 points and a career high 17 rebounds.
Randle v Cotton
Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze was unequivocal ahead of the game as to what the key battle was to decide it - Jerome Randle against Wildcat Bryce Cotton.
But while Randle was defending against the Perth star, when the Sixers were on the attack it was the Wildcats’ Damian Martin trying to put the clamps on the Adelaide point guard.
For the first quarter Randle was quiet, only managing two points, but in the second quarter when Adelaide had its best period of the game he did what big players do and made his mark.
He hit the hard shots, on three occasions giving the Sixers a big lead in the West and produced a delightful pass to set up Ramone Moore (12 points) for a bucket just before the half to give Adelaide a 16-point lead.
This was the final straw for Perth, who promptly shifted Cotton onto Randle for defence in a bid to try and rein in the hot Sixer.
While Randle was red-hot at times to finish with 20 points and eight assists, Cotton was well-negated by the Sixers for most of the game.
But like the rest of the Wildcats, he lifted during that run in the fourth and finished with 18 points.
Bench depth big again
Joey Wright continued to make the big calls with his line-up, and again they worked.
Despite a sensational game against the Breakers in Adelaide, Eric Griffin (10 points but fouled out) was again on the bench, while after recovering from concussion Brendan Teys was back in the five.
Moore was also on the bench but with Anthony Drmic (five points) struggling by his lofty standards this year, Wright used his depth perfectly again to come away with a fine win out west.
A ‘Worth’-while appearance
There was an interesting face on Adelaide’s bench with it emerging that former NBL champion and four-time All-NBL first team member Mark Worthington was the Sixers’ guest for the match.
He never played for the Wildcats, but the WA-raised former Boomer was one of the NBL’s ultimate competitors and regularly brought down the 36ers during his career.
But Wright was thrilled the former Adelaide villain was on the coaching bench - joking their fine second quarter was “all because of Mark”.