Eric Griffin stars as Adelaide 36ers knock off New Zealand Breakers
Eric Griffin was in electric form as the Adelaide 36ers dominated the New Zealand Breakers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday night.
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There was no place like home for the Adelaide 36ers, as they got back on the winners’ list and gave their finals hopes a boost with a comfortable win over the New Zealand Breakers.
After a back-and-forth first quarter at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, in which there were 12 lead changes, the 36ers put down the hammer in the second quarter, going on a 12-2 scoring run to start the term, and they didn’t look back, running out 117-100 winners.
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After a buzzer beater loss to Brisbane, the 17-point win was just what the 36ers needed ahead of challenging road-trips to Perth and Melbourne.
Here are our key takeaways from the game:
ELECTRIFYING ERIC
Has Joey Wright found a way to get the best out of Eric Griffin?
Nearly two weeks ago, the Adelaide coach had some blunt words for the 29-year-old seventh-year professional after an unsportsmanlike foul against Perth made Wright’s blood boil and Griffin was sent to the bench.
After returning to the starting five in the loss against Brisbane, and putting up 18 points and nine rebounds, Griffin was back on the bench against the Breakers and he played like a man with something to prove.
It was on full show when Griffin stole the ball in the eighth minute of the game and powerfully threw it down – with his left hand behind his head – to have the Adelaide crowd on its feet.
His hot form didn’t stop there, Griffin hit the first eight of his field goal attempts, including two threes, in a sparkling first half in which he put up 20 points – on the way to a 24-point, four-rebound game.
He still encountered foul trouble, which limited his court time to just 18 minutes although he could be aggrieved at his fourth personal.
BENCH BOOST
As in the 36ers’ last win, Adelaide’s bench were solid contributors.
Griffin was the Sixers’ x-factor whenever he was on the court, while Harry Froling made the most out of his extended minutes to put up nine points and claim four rebounds.
Ramone Moore continued his return from calf issues to finish with 12 points and claim four boards and with the game all but won with over three minutes to go Wright was able to give Michael Harris, Bijan Johnson and Alex Mudronja their first minutes of the season.
ROUGH DAY FOR RJ
While the majority of the crowd at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre were there for the 36ers, there were up to 21 NBA scouts and officials in attendance, such as Charlotte’s general manager Mitch Kupchak, hoping to get a look at touted top five NBA draft pick RJ Hampton.
And early on they would have been disappointed, as Hampton only managed just under 2.30 minutes in the first quarter, after racking up two quick personal fouls.
He was sat out until close to the same mark in the second quarter and while he ended up with 15 points and five assists, his best came when the came was out of reach for the Breakers.