Red-hot Sixers blast Bullets for fifth straight NBL win
Steve Barrett |
Adelaide have rubber-stamped themselves as the hottest team in the NBL, extending their winning streak to five matches with a clinical 90-65 victory over Brisbane.
After a relatively even opening quarter, the second-ranked 36ers (12-3) crushed the hapless Bullets 27-13 and 27-12 across the middle two terms at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday night.
Bryce Cotton (20 points), Zylan Cheatham (20) and Isaac Humphries (16) had their way with eighth-placed Brisbane (5-11), who crashed to their fourth straight defeat.
American Dakota Mathias (14 points) was the best for the Bullets, who were missing import Javon Freeman-Liberty (illness) but debuted 2025 G League champion Terry Taylor, signed during the FIBA break.
“There was definitely a defensive focus,” Sixers coach Mike Wells said after his team’s biggest win over Brisbane since the 2007-08 season, while restricting the Bullets to their lowest ever score in Adelaide.
“Every time I stepped into the huddle, they were talking about rebounding and defence – I didn’t really have to say much.”
Brisbane welcomed back Sam McDaniel, who started and assumed Cotton duties, in his first outing since round two following an ankle injury.
The Sixers led 23-20 at the end of a tight opening quarter before assuming complete control.
Cotton, kept in check by McDaniel early, got off the chain with a 13-point second term.
Cotton followed a lob pass to Cheatham for a spectacular alley-oop dunk with a lay-up, a pair of pull-up jumpers and a three.
Adelaide stormed to a 50-33 halftime lead, which they extended to 55-33 on a Cheatham triple, the 36ers on a 16-2 tear either side of the long break.
The one-way carnage continued in the third period, Cheatham taking the lead role from Cotton and blowing Adelaide’s advantage out to 77-45 at three-quarter time as the Bullets’ shooting horrors continued.
The margin ballooned to 83-48 in the fourth before both teams emptied their benches.
“It’s a shot-making game and we just did not make shots in those first three quarters,” Brisbane coach Stu Lash said.
“It was a rough shooting night.”
AAP
