NBL round 11: Bullets beat Taipans 102-101, Melbourne United win 107-96 over Adelaide 36ers, Hawks beat Phoenix 100-72
A match-winning three pointer from Brisbane Bullets’ Mitch Norton came a second too late as the Cairns Taipans held on in a thrilling one-point win. Catch the full details from round 11 of the NBL.
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The Brisbane Bullets suffered their second consecutive defeat and fell to 2-1 in a tense in-season series against rivals Cairns Taipans after a gallant 22-point-comeback fell short at Nissan Arena on Sunday.
The Taipans, who led the whole way after an early 5-2 deficit, won 102-101 in a thrilling finish where a match-winning three-point-attempt from Brisbane’s Mitch Norton was ruled too late.
Norton, who scored a lay-up on the previous possession to put Brisbane within one, nailed the three pointer however the video replay showed the shot was too late, breaking the hearts of the home side.
Brisbane won the second half 58-46 but they will rue their poor first half defence which allowed Cairns to stroll into the lane and get good looks.
Cairns came out firing, storming to a 35-17 first quarter lead before a strong second quarter saw them hold a 56-43 advantage at the main break.
Coming out of the half, back-to-back buckets from Cairns forced Bullets coach Justin Schueller into calling an early timeout, his team down 60-43.
Schueller was forced to call another timeout moments later after flamethrower Bul Kuol caught fire with two quick threes to extend his team’s lead to 22 up 70-48.
Despite hustle plays from Nathan Sobey, a barrage of blocks from Rocco Zikarsky and a full house getting behind them, the Bullets fell agonisingly short in an enthralling final instalment of the Sunshine Stoush.
Cairns had performances from across the board, with guards Tahjere Mccall (25 points) and Patrick Miller (17 points) and sharp-shooting forwards Bul Kuol (19 points) and Sam Mennenga (18 points) contributing strongly.
Off the bench guard Taron Armstrong protected the ball well and shot it efficiently (50 per cent) for six points, however it was the timely three-point-shooting of Kuol (4-7FG) that proved the difference.
For Brisbane, Aron Baynes was physical and aggressive but wasn’t used in the first half, the fiery big man taking just one shot in six minutes of action.
WHITE HOT WHITE
Brisbane’s bench enforcer Isaac White kept the home side in the fight with a nine-point first half which featured a tough corner three fade-away and a handful of strong drives to the cup.
The Bullets missed all six of their three-point attempts in the first quarter and quickly fell behind by 18 points.
But it was the crafty White who ensured the Taipan’s lead did not balloon out into the 20s with a crucial punch off the Bullets bench.
MENNENGA MAGIC
On Sunday afternoon Taipans forward Sam Mennenga was masterful and he was the reason his side led for much of the first half.
By the main break Mennenga had 13 points on 5-7 shooting as well as two rebounds and two assists.
The left-handed Mennenga shot 50 per cent from behind the arc and was a defensive brute against Aron Baynes and Harrison Tyrell in the post.
BLOCK PARTY AT ZIKARKY’S HOUSE
Brisbane Bullets’ next gen star Rocco Zikarsky stamped his mark on a far-from-perfect showing from the home side.
In a game where the Bullets had as much pop as a failed Christmas bonbon, the towering Zikarsky was a shining light after the third quarter.
The 220cm giant racked up four blocks on the night, finished a tough lay-up through contact and was an elite rim protector, standing up when it mattered most in the third term when Cairns threatened to run away with it.
The 17-year-old Sunshine Coast prodigy was exceptional, swatting all things that came in his direction and in doing so, igniting a spark within Brisbane to stay within 12 (79-67) heading into the final quarter.
‘MOST AUSSIE PLAY’: FAN ACTION STUNS COACH
—Max Hatzoglou and Michael Randall
It wasn’t quite a night that had it all, but Adelaide 36ers’ visit to Melbourne United might have produced the ‘most Aussie play’ of NBL24.
As Sixers scoring machine DJ Vasiljevic, late in the last quarter, hit the deck with an excruciating cramp – we’ve all been there – he had some assistance from an unlikely source – a fan sitting in the baseline seats.
The fan pushed back on DJ’s foot to try relieve the cramp as Adelaide fitness staff – situated on the bench at the other end of the John Cain Arena court – bolted to the star’s aid.
Interim coach Scott Ninnis, a four-time champion with the Sixers (two as player, two as assistant coach), saw the lighter side.
“It was interesting, wasn’t it? Like, I’ve seen a lot of things in this game over the last 25 years. I wasn’t so sure about that. I guess he was just trying to help,” Ninnis said.
Having some punter from the crowd stretch out your cramped calf is the most aussie play of ‘24. Good form DJ #NBL24pic.twitter.com/AxmV5zD9s9
— Tommy Garlepp (@tommygarlepp) December 16, 2023
It had former Sydney King and rising junior coach Tommy Garlepp hailing the moment as “the most Aussie play of ‘24’.
“Having some punter from the crowd stretch out your cramped calf is the most Aussie play of ‘24. Good form DJ #NBL24,” Garlepp tweeted.
DJ shook off the cramp to finish with a game-high 22 points, but the Sixers went down 107-96 and remain rooted to the bottom of the NBL ladder at 4-11.
UNITED SURVIVE LATE SCARE AFTER STUNNING 36ERS COMEBACK
Melbourne United escaped a late scare from bottom placed Adelaide 36ers to record its 13th win of the season and hold firm of top spot on the NBL ladder.
After leading by a game-high 18 points in the third quarter, the 36ers fought back to make it a four-point game with three minutes left.
But the experience of United point guard Matthew Dellavedova and athleticism of Jo Lual-Aciul powered the home side to a steady 11-point victory.
The pair both kept United ahead in the clutch moments as Lual-Aciul landed back-to-back dunks with less than two and a half minutes to keep his side nine points in front.
The 107-96 win is the fifth time in a row United has recorded more than 100 points.
Meanwhile Adelaide suffered their fourth straight game by a double-digit margin.
KREBS FINDS HIS GROOVE
The home crowd erupted when United forward Tanner Krebs rose to score a third triple in a row to push United to a game-high 12-point lead just before halftime.
It proved to be the difference in the first half as Adelaide had stayed in the game before the 27-year-old’s excellence came to the surface to give United a 13-point advantage at the main break.
Krebs finished the encounter with 12 points and three triple from four attempts.
Prior to the game he had shot 11 three-pointers at 24 per cent from 15 matches this season.
UNITED TAKE NO CHANCES
Despite entering the game as questionable due to a right knee concern, United did everything to get their leader Matthew Dellavedova on the court.
The former NBA point guard passed last minute fitness tests as coach Dean Vickermann started the 33-year-old, showing no signs of taking bottom-placed Adelaide lightly.
Dellavedova got through the game finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and seven rebounds.
STAR TRIO LIFT 36ERS
Adelaide centre Isaac Humphries and guards Dejan Vasiljevic and Trey Kell lll continued their fine form under interim coach Scott Ninnis.
Following impressive performances last game, the trio were influential on the offensive end with 61 of their side’s 96 points.
NBL SCOREBOARD
Melbourne United 107 (IIi 16, Goulding 15, Lual-Acuil Jr 15) d Adelaide 36ers 96 (Keli Ill 22, Vasiljevic 23, Humphries 16)
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne
PHOENIX BECOMES ROADKILL AS HAWKS SWOOP IN TRARALGON
—Lance Jenkinson
Thrashed twice in three nights, South East Melbourne Phoenix has become the latest roadkill for a resurgent Illawarra Hawks, hammered 100-72 at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium on Saturday night.
The rampaging Hawks made it three wins from four under new coach Justin Tatum and picked up just their third win from their past 22 away games.
The undermanned Phoenix struggled to adjust to life without star Mitch Creek, who faces up to two weeks on the sidelines with a medial strain sustained in Thursday’s heavy defeat to Melbourne United.
It was the Tyler Harvey show in Traralgon, who dropped a personal season-high of 25 points to lead the way for the Hawks.
Sam Froling’s dominant second half was the icing on a sweet cake for the Hawks, who improved to 5-8 and back into the conversation for the top six.
Froling had 16 points and six rebounds, while Gary Clark double-doubled with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Phoenix slumped to 8-8 after being two games over .500 just three days ago.
Alan Williams fought hard for Phoenix with a double-double 17 points, his 35th consecutive game with double digit points, and 12 rebounds.
The Hawks came out of the blocks in a hurry with Clark soaring to collect a sweetly timed lob from Wani Swaka Lo Buluk to slam home the first points of the game.
With Justin Robinson on the expressway to the basket and Tyler Harvey finding his shooting groove early, the Hawks raced to an 18-10 lead.
Williams sparked the Phoenix’s comeback as the hosts dominated the second half of the opening period to lead 27-22 after the first quarter.
HARVEY HEATER
It was fast turning into a vintage Harvey performance with his scoring punch at first keeping the Hawks in the game and then seeing them accelerate past the Phoenix in the run to half time.
Harvey was feasting on some flimsy Phoenix back court defence as he eclipsed season-high points in under two quarters.
“I’m just out there trying to play my game and take what the defence gives me,” Harvey at half time.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, Harvey ran into foul trouble, receiving a third after drawing an offensive foul for kicking out a leg on Phoenix’s Matt Kenyon.
But the Hawks show rolled on into half-time with the visitors leading 48-39 at the half.
Phoenix coach Mike Kelly assigned Browne the task of nullifying Harvey, who found it much harder with just three points after the break.
But the Hawks started to get success inside the paint through centre Sam Froling, who produced a dominant third to help extend his side’s lead to 18 late in the third.
The fourth quarter was a stat-padding exercise for the Hawks.
Big addition
With Creek a late out, small forward Abdel Nader timed his NBL debut to perfection.
Nader, a 30 year old former NBA player, checked in for his first game since November 2021, after a long lay-off with a knee injury.
Nader showed confidence in his body, scoring his first NBL points with a coast-to-coast play and attempted a big slam dunk shortly after, though that was denied by Hawks forward Lachie Olbrich.
STEP IN THE RING
A wrestling match broke out between Clark and Phoenix guard Ben Ayre just before half time.
Things spiced up when Ayre collected possession and Clark towered over the top in a bid to wrench it away only to put Ayre in a headlock.
The two players locked horns for a brief moment before they were split up by teammates.
Demanding more
You can see why the Hawks are responding to their new coach Justin Tatum.
Tatum’s energy on the sideline is infectious.
If one of his players goes away from the team rules, Tatum is hot on their heels and demanding perfection.
COTTON CLUTCHES UP TO DENY JACKJUMPERS’ END OF YEAR DREAM
— Brad Elborough
A cool head from Bryce Cotton has cost the Tasmania JackJumpers a chance to cement their place among the top two teams as the NBL’s 2023 schedule comes to an end.
Cotton converted two free throws to give the Wildcats a one-point lead with just five seconds remaining at RAC Arena on Friday night.
Jordon Crawford missed a rare late attempt, that would have won his side the game, leaving Perth 89-88 victors.
The JackJumpers had led by 16 points in the first half, but failed to produce the knockout blow.
The trailed for most of the game and by 10 points in the second half. They only took the lead with 39 seconds remaining in the game.
Scott Roth’s men were looking for a fourth consecutive win and to put some space between themselves and the third-placed Sydney Kings.
The JackJumpers host the Kings at MyState Arena on Sunday in a game that now has much greater significance to ladder positions.
RARE BONUS TAKEN
Cotton finished with 28 points. While he finished the game with bonus shots, it wasn’t a skill that featured highly in this game.
Tasmania lost by one point and made only 10 of 19 free throw attempts.
Perth was not much better, hitting only 15 of 22 attempts.
The main culprits was Will Magnay, who made only three of seven attempt.
Cotton made eight of 10.
FINDING HIS RANGE
Crawford is turning it on for Tasmania and almost got his side across the line.
He backed up his 30-point performance against the Breakers with 29 against the Wildcats.
In his NBL debut, back in round 1, he hadn’t quite found his feet, knocking in 13 points as the Wildcats noted a six-point win.
He shot just five of 14 from the field.
But he’s worked his way into the season and has scored double figures in every game. He had 10 points at quarter-time against Perth on Friday night.
Magnay produced fell just one rebound short of his third double double in six games since returning from injury, finishing with 17 points as well.
SHOTS DRYING UP
The Wildcats had 70 field goal attempts in their 18 points loss to Illawarra last weekend.
And they had 80 in home win against Sydney the week before.
But on Friday, they trailed 48-40 at the half against Tasmania, having been allowed to make only 31 attempts at goal.
The only reason they were still in the game was Tasmania converted only 46 per cent of its 41 attempts.
Perth shot at 51 per cent.
The Wildcats got going in offence in the second half and finished with 69 attempts, converting at 47 per cent.
The JackJumpers had 10 more shots, but converted at only 44 per cent.
BREAKERS BREEZE PAST TAIPANS IN FAR NORTH THUMPING
— Gyan-Reece Rocha
Parker Jackson-Cartwright has exploded for the New Zealand Breakers, dominating in his side’s comprehensive win against the Cairns Taipans.
The Breakers broke the game open from the tip-off, culminating their best first half scoring performance for the season with 62 points on the board at the main break, which turned into a 82-111 blowout victory at the Cairns Convention Centre.
Jackson-Cartwright put on a devastating attacking performance, staking his claim as a NBL superstar.
He finished with 20 points, eight assists, and four rebounds, leading the Breakers out of the gates with venom.
The 28-year-old guard invaded the paint with ease and was able to consistently manoeuvre his way to the basket, as well as orchestrate passes to open teammates.
Jackson-Cartwright didn’t stagnate possession, always looking for the extra pass and the rapid ball movement created easy points for Breakers, particularly in transition.
Breakers forward Anthony Lamb was a powerful presence with 32 points and eight rebounds.
“We just worked all week, we know they’ve been hot, (they have) a lot of really good, talented players,” Lamb said post game.
“We made sure we focused on the defensive rebounds, we gave up a lot last week.”
Despite starting on the bench, Taipans guard Taran Armstrong was impressive with 15 points and four assists.
SUFFOCATING PRESSURE
Breakers coach Mody Maor would have been ecstatic with the starting five’s energy and suffocating pressure from the get-go with Izayah Le’afa and Lamb setting the tone, despite the former finding himself in early foul trouble.
Switching between zone-coverage and man-on-man defence, they pushed Taipans to constantly rethink plays.
Meanwhile, the Taipans’ first quarter was one coach Adam Forde will want to eliminate from his memory.
The Snakes were killed in transition, giving up six careless turnovers and struggling to keep hold of possession and generate dangerous offence.
They struggled to get stops on defence, with limited paint pressure from the Taipans’ usually intimidating big-men, which pushed Forde to substitute the entire starting five midway through the opening quarter.
MILLER v JACKSON-CARTWRIGHT
It was a box office guard match-up that looked enticing on paper.
Heading into round 11, Taipans’ Patrick Miller led the league in assists (6.2), was third in points per game (20.1) and was one of three qualified guards shooting at least 50 cent from the field this season.
However, Breakers Jackson-Cartwright has been sparking an offensive storm all season with 20.4 points per game and 5.8 assists.
Jackson-Cartwright won dual early as the pair went toe-to-to, not just by scoring at the basket but continually making the right play and rewarding his teammates for the hard work on defence.
On the other hand, Patrick Miller struggled early and was benched with the rest of the starting five midway through the first quarter.
He grew into the contest as the game went on finishing with 13 points.
UNITED DOMINATES PHOENIX IN THROWDOWN TO REMAIN TOP OF NBL
—Lance Jenkinson
Melbourne United runs the city with the clench of an iron fist after another take-down of South East Melbourne Phoenix in a one-sided Throwdown at John Cain Arena on Thursday night.
United, top of the ladder and in imperious form, ran riot to win 106-78, registering their third win over Phoenix this season.
Phoenix had no answer to the domination of United twin towers Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Ariel Hukporti.
Lual-Acuil Jr was particularly dominant on the defensive end, recording seven blocks, before taking over on the offensive end in the fourth to finish with 17 points and eight rebounds.
United will enter Saturday night’s clash with Adelaide 36ers as the clear title favourite on the back of this performance, improving to 12-3 on the season.
Phoenix is 8-7 and will need to improve significantly to get within a bull’s roar of United, but will be stronger next time out with new import Abdel Nader, a forward with NBA experience, signed.
With only two days before their next game against Illawarra on Saturday night in Traralgon, Phoenix’s woes could be compounded after Mitch Creek went off with a jarred knee in the fourth.
UNITED FLAIR
United brought a touch of showtime to the Throwdown in the first period.
The ladder leaders sliced and diced their way through the Phoenix defence to race to a 35-18 quarter time lead.
United point guard Matthew Dellavedova lined up centre Arial Hukporti for a huge left handed dunk and veteran Chris Goulding wowed with a look away pass to an unattended Luke Travers.
United shot 85% from the field in an incredible first quarter offensive display but the Phoenix offered little by way of a roadblock.
It was a half of frustration for the Phoenix, which saw stars Mitch Creek and Alan Williams have running battles with the referees.
Even the usually placid Phoenix coach Mike Kelly felt like the rub of the green was going against his team.
If the decision makers hadn’t annoyed the Phoenix enough, guard Gary Browne copped a technical foul for flopping and the resultant free throw stretched United’s lead to 20.
UNITED DOMINATION
Williams tried to ignite the Phoenix with five unanswered points, while Lual-Acuil Jr continued his block party, displaying the kind of defensive presence the Phoenix was crying out for as United went into half time leading 66-46.
At that stage, United led the points in the paint 38-22, shot at 75.8% from the field and had 31 bench points to nil.
The Phoenix refused to wave the white flag in the second half with an 11-4 run cutting the deficit to 13.
Both a creator and a finisher, Browne tried his utmost to get the Phoenix back into the game with 22 points
Any hope of a Phoenix last quarter comeback evaporated with a pair of Goulding threes early in the fourth.
TRIPLE TREAT
Hukporti had bad intentions from the moment he set foot on the court with the hoop in his sights.
The towering United centre rose for three massive dunks, including two connections with Dellavedova.
The pick of the lot was a two handed jam that put Phoenix’s Creek on a poster.
SCOREBOARD
South East Melbourne Phoenix 78 (Browne 22 Williams 12 Creek 12) lt Melbourne United 106 (Lual-Acuil Jr 17 Clark 15 Goulding 15)
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne
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