Adelaide 36ers fail to respond to shock loss against Illawarra, losing to Cairns Taipans away by eight points
After coach Joey Wright called the shock loss to Illawarra “selfish” and “unprofessional”, Adelaide 36ers needed to respond against Cairns. Instead, they suffered another defeat.
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Joey Wright’s Friday night blast could not inspire Adelaide on Sunday, as the 36ers sustained an eight-point road loss to Cairns.
Wright slammed his side for being “selfish” and “unprofessional” after a shock home defeat to Illawarra, but instead of prompting a reaction against the Taipans, Adelaide started slowly and it cost it the game.
Cairns skipped out to a 31-17 lead at quarter-time on the back of some hot early shooting.
The 36ers outscored the hosts in each of the next three periods and a handful of times looked like going on a run, but the closest the margin got down the stretch was seven points.
Adelaide, which was fourth with an 8-8 record going into the game, slipped outside the finals placings because of the loss.
NO RESPONSE
Adelaide would have been hoping for a response after the loss to Illawarra, but instead lacked urgency during the first quarter.
The Taipans, who were fired up by club great Aaron Grabau’s pre-game jersey retirement ceremony, were able to easily get to the rim and the 36ers also gave them a string of wide open threes.
Mirko Djeric had the hot hand early, making two early triples, while ex-36er Majok Deng added two himself.
There was no help in defence and a lot of easy Taipans buckets.
At the other end, Cairns doubled Jerome Randle and he struggled to get into the contest early.
SHINING LIGHT
The 36er who did the most to keep his side in the game during the first half was Obi Kyei.
He sliced to the hoop to capitalise on a nice Daniel Johnson pass then showed his athleticism to finish another play a short time later.
Kyei put himself in the right place at the right time, on his way to 15 points.
His defensive energy was also instrumental in Adelaide chipping away at the lead.
After a steal and assist led to a Jack McVeigh basket, Kyei took a charge on Nathan Jawai.
Johnson also finished with 15 points, while Randle, who heated up late and lifted his defensive intensity in the third, topscored with 19.
MACHADO MAKING PLAYS
If you told Wright at the start of the game that Scott Machado would score just three points from 1/11 shooting, it would be understandable if he assumed his side would win.
But even though Adelaide was able to force the ball out of the point guard’s hands, his court vision and passing were so brilliant that he helped Cairns get many of those easy, early threes and lay-ups.
Even though it was a cold shooting performance, Machado recorded a game-high 13 assists and three steals.
His only field goal was a crafty crossover that proved too slick for Kyei.