Win and they’re in — simple equation for Adelaide 36ers if they’re to make the NBL finals

The finals equation for Adelaide against Perth on Friday night is a simple one — win and they’re in. But it gets far more complicated if they lose.

Demitrius Conger and Nathan Sobey ponder lost chances after the 36ers loss to United. Picture: Sarah Reed

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IT’S a simple finals equation for Adelaide against Perth on Friday night — win and they’re in.

Lose and they’ll face a nervous 24 hours relying on Brisbane to lose to New Zealand at home on Saturday.

Because if the Sixers can’t beat ladder leader Perth and the Bullets beat the Breakers then Adelaide’s finals hopes are over given Brisbane goes into the final round one win behind but with a superior percentage.

Majok Deng and Jacob Wiley of the Sixers walk from the floor after the narrow loss to Melbourne United on Sunday. Picture: AAP/Kelly Barnes

While Adelaide and Brisbane are waging a battle for fourth spot, the top three teams Perth, Melbourne and Sydney are all vying for home court advantage in the first week of finals which sets the scene for an intriguing final round of the NBL season.

Sixers captain Daniel Johnson said it would have been nice to lock their finals spot away against Melbourne on Sunday but the two-point loss meant their destiny was still in their hands.

“I think we were pretty pumped for the play-offs trying to lock that in and the guys came out with the right energy,” Johnson said.

“So if we can do that again next week we give ourselves every chance to lock it in there (in Perth).”

Despite surrendering a six-point three-quarter-time lead against Melbourne on the weekend, coach Joey Wright said he was pleased with the way Adelaide played and defended Casper Ware and Chris Goulding late in the game.

“That last shot is a pretty tough shot, it wasn’t bad defence at all, we got a little screwed up on that out of bounds play and gave up that bucket, but other than that those last shots were just clutch shots, big players make big plays,” he said.

Adelaide did however have four fouls in the first 1:30secs of the fourth quarter which put them on the brink of sending Melbourne to the line but Wright didn’t think it made a difference to the result.

“I don’t think it had an impact because we did challenge some of those shots fairly well, we were right there, and they just knocked them down,” he said.

“Then there were some crucial offensive rebounds at the wrong time and they were able to take advantage of those.”

Adelaide won the rebound count 51-41 but Melbourne big-man Josh Boone grabbed those crucial offensive rebounds late to keep his team in front.

“That’s his skill that he’s great at, that’s why he’s there to give them other opportunities,” Johnson said.

“I thought we did a decent job in the first half then in the second he got on top of us.

“That’s probably my responsibility to keep him off more but we’re in rotations a lot with their on-ball action so it’s kind of hard to keep him off all the time.”

Friday night’s clash with Perth starts at 9.20pm Adelaide time.

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