Adelaide 36ers win 110-95 against Melbourne United, level NBL grand final series

IT TOOK five straight losses that stretched the entire season, but Adelaide finally decided enough was enough against Melbourne United by levelling their NBL grand final series 1-1 on Sunday.

Mitch Creek of the 36ers dunks during game two of the NBL Grand Final series

IT TOOK five straight losses that stretched the entire season, but Adelaide finally decided enough was enough against Melbourne United by levelling their NBL grand final series 1-1 on Sunday.

The 36ers defiantly stared down a 0-5 record against United to keep their championship dream alive by winning game two 110-95 with an awesome display.

But it could come at an enormous cost with superstar import Josh Childress hurting his shoulder in the final quarter, which forced him out of the game after he had 13 points and eight rebounds in another game-changing performance.

Told to “grow some balls” by their MVP after Friday night’s meek performance in game one, the 36ers could not have responded any better, with the right physicality and aggression to dominate the rebound count 53-36 to show Melbourne it will not be pushed around any longer.

Adelaide 36ers’ Majok Deng and Melbourne United’s Casey Prather.

The two sides meet again in Game 3 at Hisense Arena in Melbourne on Friday night before returning to Adelaide for Game 4 on Sunday.

So many players stood tall for Adelaide yesterday.

Creek (17 points, nine rebounds) with the type of athleticism and poise that warrants an opportunity in the NBA, Majok Deng and Ramone Moore with devastating impact off the bench and Sobey, who helped land the knockout blow in the second half, with his hot hand and assists.

Deng in particular shot the lights out with 18 points on 7-of-8 from the field while adding ball-winning hustle on the boards and the floor.

Adelaide got 41 points off the bench compared to Melbourne’s 32, but the most telling stat was the rebound count.

They also learnt their lesson from game one when Casper Ware went on a three-point shooting spree.

Adelaide 36ers’ Ramone Moore congratulated by Mitch Creek and Majok Deng.

Ware was restricted to just three shots in the entire first half thanks to manic pressure from Sobey and then fouled out of the game early in the last quarter with just six points.

Adelaide’s flat-out aggressive run-and-gun game style returned with a vengeance and an 11-0 run in the second quarter turned into a 16-point half time lead.

And when the inevitable acid test arrived to start the third quarter they had the answers led by Daniel Johnson’s 11 points in three minutes and Sobey’s back-to-back three-pointers, which blew the margin out to 27.

The 36ers also deployed a full court press for much of the game which took away United’s time and space and ability to get open shots.

While Adelaide will be sweating on the injury to Childress, Melbourne has its own concerns with Josh Boone landing awkwardly on Creek early in the game and appearing to hurt his back.

He played 18 minutes and had six points.

At 78-56 Melbourne forced a shot clock violation and slowed the tempo of the game and two three-pointers to David Barlow at least gave the visitors some hope.

With Ware fouled out of the game, Goulding stepped up with eight quick-fire points which cut the margin to 14.

Ahead 93-80 with five minutes to go Childress hit the deck hard after driving to the basket, running into Barlow.

No foul was called and Childress slowly got up holding his left shoulder and disappeared into the rooms.

But Adelaide was never threatened in the closing stages as captain Brendan Teys and Adam Doyle saw court time in a win that puts the Sixers not only back in the series but with the genuine belief they can win.

Now can they continue with the momentum on the road.