Adelaide 36ers NBL finals dream now rests on win in The Jungle

Adelaide 36ers has been sweating all season on whether it will return to the finals so it’s no surprise its fate will be decided in the very last round after another heart-breaking loss on Sunday.

Adelaide 36ers guard Nathan Sobey falls to the floor. Picture SARAH REED

Adelaide has been sweating all season on whether it will return to the finals so it’s no surprise its fate will be decided in the very last round after another heart-breaking loss to arch rival Melbourne on Sunday.

Needing a win to guarantee their spot in the play-offs, the 36ers led at every buzzer except the last as their nemesises Casper Ware and Chris Goulding clinched the 89-87 win for United on the road.

It means Adelaide - which is a game clear of Brisbane in fourth spot - must either beat the Wildcats in Perth on Friday night or rely on the Bullets losing to New Zealand at home on Saturday, otherwise risk missing the finals on percentage.

Despite the disappointment of yesterday’s loss, coach Joey Wright is glad his team’s destiny remains in its own hands.

Adelaide 36ers’ import forward Jacob Wiley dunks. Picture: SARAH REED

“I’d always much rather count on that than hoping someone loses,” he said.

“To go and play Perth we just need to be the best team we can be and try to get the win.”

While Adelaide was playing for its season, Melbourne was playing for top spot but you got the impression they’d like to see the back of the 36ers as well after they pushed them to five games in last year’s grand final series and always provide a physical and at times spiteful contest.

Yesterday was no exception and Adelaide led by three points at quarter-time, four at half-time and six at three-quarter-time before fading in the last.

The good news for Adelaide was Anthony Drmic’s career-high 20 points after 13 in the first quarter when he was raising money - including $100 for every three-pointer - for his niece who requires brain surgery for a rare genetic disorder next month.

Daniel Johnson had 15 points and Nathan Sobey 11 including nine in the final quarter after a slow start, but it was Ware (20 points) and Goulding (16) who hit the big shots when it mattered.

Adelaide will still take confidence from doing a lot right without getting the result, and Wright is not stewing on the final costly turnover when they trailed by two points and gave the ball back to Melbourne as Ware hit an impossibly tough jump shot to seal the game with 14secs remaining.

Adelaide 36ers’ Daniel Johnson shoots over DJ Kennedy. Picture: SARAH REED

“It’s basketball, it just happens,” Wright said.

“That’s one of the wonderful things about basketball, it can change so quick.

“Us having a turnover at the end of the game, I’ve seen Michael Jordan do that, and he’s really good.

“We played some pretty good basketball, pretty close to our capacity with only 14 turnovers, we shot a pretty good three-point percentage and out-rebounded them, it was just some crucial turnovers at the wrong time and a couple of shots went down for them.”

If Adelaide gets to the finals the team has the belief it can make an impact against Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.

“We’ve beaten every team in the competition this year so we know we’ve got the capacity to do it,” Wright said.

“But we just have to bring our A-game and we know when we’re rolling and feel good about ourselves we can do some good things.”