NBL25, Round 5, news and results: Cadee’s 400th celebrated in style as Phoenix kick off new era with win
The 36ers came up clutch for Jason Cadee’s 400th game with a hard-fought win against the Jack Jumpers, while United were stunned by their local rivals marking the dawn of a new era for the Phoenix.
NBL Scores and News
Don't miss out on the headlines from NBL Scores and News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Adelaide 36ers celebrated Jason Cadee’s 400th NBL match with a hard-fought win, Montrezl Harrell and Kendric Davis sparking the Sixers, who came from behind to score a four-point victory over the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday.
Mike Well’s side threw off a disjointed first half on offence to power to a double-digit lead on the back of a stunning 16-0 run late in the third term and into the final stanza, then held off the visitors to make it eight wins in a row at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Milton Doyle, who finished with 22 points, drained a three-pointer with nine seconds left to cut the margin to just two points, but Davis kept his composure to nail two free throws seconds later to seal the win.
“I think our defence probably kept us in the game, but our energy in the third quarter – the way we came out, got after it, and created some havoc – it started defensively and led to the offence,” Wells’ said.
“We got a bunch of easy baskets and were able to change the momentum of the game.
“There wasn’t any sense of panic in the locker room at half-time … there was a willingness to get out there and really play Sixer basketball, and the style that we’ve been trying to get to.”
The JackJumpers slipped to a 2-5 record on the back of a third loss in a row, while the 36ers improved to 4-3.
In his first game since signing on for the rest of the season, Harrell lit up the home crowd with his typically physical play and finished with 22 points, while Davis had a game-high 23.
Jarrell Martin played his first game of the season after recovering from a foot injury and showed flashes of brilliance in his limited minutes.
FLAT ATTACK
Tasmania’s scoring woes this season have been well-documented, with the JackJumpers last in the league in points per game and three-point shooting percentage.
The 36ers have had no such issues, ranked in the top two in those statistics, but they struggled to find their rhythm on offence early, especially from outside the arc.
The sputtering Sixers were 0-from-5 from three-point range in the first quarter, and 5-from-15 overall, to manage an anaemic 13 points in their worst first-quarter score of the season after notching 25 or more points in six previous opening terms.
DJ Vasiljevic was scoreless with just one shot attempt at the first break, with the visitors leading 22-13 on the back of a 10-0 run and their best first quarter of the season.
TRIPLE TROUBLE
The Sixers’ issues from three-point range dogged them throughout the first half.
Adelaide was unable to sink a triple from the first 11 attempts, while Tasmania was 5-from-12 from long range in the first half.
The home side’s drought was finally broken with 12 seconds remaining in the half when Davis nailed his shot.
Adelaide had not scored less than 48 points in a first half this season, but crawled to 31 as the visitors maintained their eight-point lead at the main break.
A subdued Vasiljevic was scoreless from the floor, his two points coming from the free-throw line.
Jordon Crawford led the way for the JackJumpers, whose defence was outstanding with Will Magnay registering two blocks, including a monster reject of Harrell as he flew hard to the basket intent on a trademark dunk.
Stunning derby win kicks off new Phoenix era with a bang
It is the dawn of a new era for South East Melbourne Phoenix under interim coach Sam Mackinnon after stunning heavily backed crosstown rivals Melbourne United 93-84 in the Throwdown at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
The Phoenix rose up for their first win of NBL25 after starting the season 0-5 under previous coach Mike Kelly.
It put an end to the Phoenix’s wretched run in the Throwdown, ending a six-game losing streak with their first win since 2022.
The Phoenix showed tremendous spirit, fighting back from as much as 10 points down in the second period.
They were as busy on the defensive end as they had been all season and were willing to make the extra pass on offence on a day that it finally clicked for the newly assembled team.
Phoenix centre Jordan Hunter was the cornerstone to Phoenix’s win with 20 points and nine rebounds, while captain Nathan Sobey better resembled his old self with an impactful 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals, showing the talent that saw him lauded as one of the top off-season signings.
Star import Matt Hurt continued to roll offensively for Phoenix with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Sobey stepped up big time when starting point guard Derrick Walton Jr went down with a right hamstring injury.
United sorely missed the defensive impact of Shea Ili, who was out with a calf injury, as they slumped to their second home loss in three games to be 4-3 on the season.
Ian Clark’s 20 points were not enough for a United side that looked out of sync offensively.
Demolition derby
The fuse was lit early in the 26th Throwdown.
United veteran Chris Goulding was fuming after an altercation with Hunter late in the first quarter.
The two had locked arms after the ball went through the hoop, but Goulding claimed that Hunter had put a bit extra into the action and yanked at his arm.
A furious Goulding had to be held back by his teammates from confronting Hunter, but the match officials cleared the action.
Goulding did not leave it there though, taking Hunter out with a shoulder off the ball in the second quarter, which almost resulted in an injury for Dellavedova, who tweaked an ankle after Hunter fell into him.
On the next play, Goulding hit a three to put United up 26-18 and he mouthed off at the Phoenix bench.
It threatened to boil over once again when United centre Rob Loe floored Hunter on a layup and Hunter remonstrated.
It was clear that neither side was going to take a backward step.
In the same play, Walton Jr ended up clutching at his right hamstring, and was later ruled out with a strain.
‘Nix roar back
The injury gave the little-used guard Ben Ayre a chance to impress and he was part of a Phoenix fightback, which saw the underdogs come back from as much as 10 down to take the lead on the back of a pair of Tom Vodanovich threes.
The Phoenix went to halftime with an unlikely 48-43 lead, with Hunter’s influence in the paint significant.
United seemed to get distracted from their game due to the Phoenix’s physicality and would have welcomed the half time reset.
With United threatening late in the third, Sobey intercepted a Jack White pass and slammed home unopposed to put the Phoenix up eight, and it looked as though it might be their day.
Late threes Kyle Bowen and Tanner Krebs before three quarter time gave United hope.
Loe restored parity for United with a three early in the fourth, but the Phoenix returned fire with threes from Sobey, Angus Glover and Hurt, who drained two in a row to create enough of a buffer to deny a late United comeback.
Kings heap misery on spluttering JackJumpers
The Sydney Kings moved to the top of the NBL ladder on Friday night with their dramatic come-from-behind win against Tasmania to continue the JackJumpers’ spluttering title defence.
The Kings hatched a plan to neutralise Tasmania’s centerpiece playmaker Will Magnay and Sydney coach Brian Goorgian handed that job to Keli Leaupepe.
The 1.98m forward did enough to ensure the JJs’ bigman and Paris Olympian did not have a match-winning impact on the game in a dramatic second half when the Kings lived up to their name.
Sydney was as much as 16 points down several times in the exhilarating grand final rematch and its second-half aggression was enough to take the Kings’ to a powerful nine point win – 80-71 in Launceston.
The Kings had 49 rebounds to 36, and despite a horror night in terms of turnovers, a well-rounded performance put the Tasmanians on the back foot and brought up the Kings’ second win in a now after a loss on the road to the 36ers and win over the Taipans at home.
Smashed by the Hawks to the tune of 33 points last time out, question marks over the reigning champions eased early when Tasmania opened strongly both defensively and offensively.
Playmaker Jordon Crawford drained his best score of the season with his game-high 25, bettering his top performances so far this season of 19 against Melbourne United on September 28 and the Hawks on October 12.
Crawford hit 18 points in the first half and then the Kings cut off supply in the second when then they upped the ante on the defensive end and Xavier Cooks (15 points) and Alex Toohey (12 points) made their impact at the other end.
Battling to re-establish themselves in the game they had dominated, the JackJumpers reduced the deficit from 11 points to five entering the final minute of the game but the Kings held on for their best win of the season.
JackJumpers coach Scott Roth threw out the playbook early and put captain Clint Steindl in the starting five as the JJs looked for a way to hit the boards and boost their offensive ranking, which was the worst in the league going into the game.
It worked for a while but the skipper had only limited impact with six points for the game.
Tasmania’s outstanding first half had it ahead 45-33 at the long break. But a scoring drought hit in the third quarter with the home team scoring just eight points.
Batemon stars as Bullets beat the Breakers
by Nick Tucker
For the second successive week American import James Batemon proved the decisive difference that allowed the Brisbane Bullets to prevail.
Batemon, 21 points, scorched in a sensational showing at the Brisbane Entertainment centre that spearheaded his Bullets to a thrilling last-gasp 84-73 victory over the visiting Breakers.
It was a highlight-laden performance from the three-point flamethrower that just one fortnight ago couldn’t buy a bucket.
Fast forward to Thursday night and Batemon had gone from Mr Streaky to Fan Favourite with a stirring deep-shooting masterclass that featured five threes, a nasty cross-over to score in the fourth and a diving effort moments later that led to a timely jam by Harrison which had the BEC humming.
“We felt a bit disappointed in our first performance in front of the home crowd. You want to put on something you are proud of. We felt we could have been better there,” Bullets forward Josh Bannon said.
“It was good to rally back as a group and play with some more toughness and that is something we are going to build on.
“Establish a real fortress here, this is going to be a tough place to come and play. We are going to make sure of that.”
In a masterstroke by Batemon and his coach Justin Schueller to light a fire beneath the Milwaukee magician, Batemon came off the bench against the Phoenix in round 4.
In that game he hit the dagger to win 87-85 and with similar heroics against the Breakers, when the game swung in the balance, he sunk a crucial trey just under three minutes from time to take a commanding 76-68 lead.
That lead was not surrendered and deservedly the brilliant Batemon struck away downcourt in the final play to add the exclamation mark to his game-high 21 points.
“There’s something with this group in close games, I just feel very good about us down the stretch,” Josh Bannan said.
BATEMON GOES BANG BANG
After dropping a crucial 20 points in Brisbane’s first win of the season last week, import guard Batemon showed it was no flash in the pan with his three-point-masterclass a big factor at home on Thursday.
He had the hot hand scoring 14 points across the first three quarters, in the process shushing any whispers he was a waste of space on Brisbane’s roster this season.
Batemon came to life in the second quarter draining three treys and his confident shooting form deep gave Brisbane the edge on a night where the Breakers’ 208cm big man Jonah Bolden scored the equal-most threes (tied with Jackson-Cartwright with three) for his team.
Batemon went 4-5 from downtown before former Indiana Pacers draft pick Mojave King (eight points in less than three minutes) caught fire to start the fourth and spark life into the Breakers.
Then with a little over six minutes remaining, with a textbook drive to the cup, Jackson-Cartwright handed the visitors their first lead 64-63 since they were ahead 9-8 early in the game.
Batemon and his Bullets ensured that was the last time they trailed.
“It’s great to see him settle in and get going. We need that from him. We love to see it,” Bannan said.
“We weren’t ever questioning what he was trying to do it was like how do we continue to help him get better and help him find his spots,” Schueller added.
JACKSON-CARTWRIGHT CARNAGE
Where would the Breakers be without Parker Jackson-Cartwright?
They wouldn’t have been in this game without the diminutive MVP contender throwing the team on his shoulders and giving the Bullets work.
Brisbane captain Mitch Norton found himself on ‘PJC island’ a handful of occasions and on an efficient clip (12 points, 5-8 shooting), Jackson-Cartwright ensured his side was right there entering the third frame.
If he wasn’t draining mid-range jumpers, he was dishing left, right and centre to his teammates who were freed up wonderfully by the dynamic American.
Prather, in his 100th NBL game, was influential for Brisbane in response, dropping in seven first-half points alongside James Batemon (11 points, 3-4 three pointers) to steer the side to a 39-33 halftime lead.
The Bullets won all four quarters on their way to notching win No.2 on the season.
BIG MEN PRODUCTION
The Bullets led 17-13 after the first quarter and could have amassed a much bigger lead had they capitalised on a sluggish Breakers outfit that showed no signs they had just warmed their engines against three high-class NBA teams in the States.
The home side picked off errant passes, ran the floor well, showed active hands and rarely settled for three in a quarter that presented a handful of good signs.
Keandre Cook (two steals) was king on the defensive end with deflections aplenty.
“We needed to hit first. We wanted to come out and have that stand. A bit of desire and hunger. To hold them to 13 and set the table for us was outstanding,” Schueller said.
“It (noticing Cook’s defence in the preseason) was like ‘wow’ this guy can be very good for us on both sides of the ball,” Banned added.
Big men Tyrell Harrison, Rocco Zikarsky and Toni Smith-Milner, against his former team, all contributed in their own ways.
The brick-wall screens of Zikarsky opened things up for blokes like Isaac White and James Batemon. Harrison shouldered plenty of defensive pressure early distributing the rock out of the post and Smith-Milner sunk a trey with his first shot coming off the bench.
Brisbane coach Justin Schueller was looking for a big defensive effort to spark the offence and he got it in a strong first half showing.
“We are starting to get it in terms of the way we are getting after it in practice,” Bannon said.
More Coverage
Originally published as NBL25, Round 5, news and results: Cadee’s 400th celebrated in style as Phoenix kick off new era with win
South East Melbourne lock in Mike Kelly replacement
Despite winning their first game of the season under interim coach Sam Mackinnon this round, the Phoenix have secured their replacement for sacked coach Mike Kelly, poaching Josh King from the Turkish league.
‘Privately frustrated’: The NBL teams loading up for Bryce
Crosscourt can reveal at least three NBL clubs are open to making a play for out-of-contract superstar Bryce Cotton but there’s a real prospect he could be lost to Perth — and the league.