Turnovers and o-boards prove costly in Semi Game 2

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells says turnovers and allowing a large number of offensive rebounds were key reasons for his side’s loss to South East Melbourne on Saturday night in game two of the Semi-Final Series.

The Sixers tallied 18 turnovers and gave up 18 offensive rebounds as the Phoenix came from behind to force a third playoff game 101-92.

Bryce Cotton again top-scored with 29 points to go with six rebounds and five assists but was well held in the second half as former Sixer Nathan Sobey hit a career-high 41 points to propel his current side over the line.

Wells said while his side did a lot of good things to control the Phoenix’ pace in the first half, a lot of it was undone in a third quarter in which it conceded 39 points to 20.

“They came out with the right energy, and we had some possessions and turnovers and missed shots, and they got going a little bit,” he explained after the game.

“They're a good team,” he continued. “They were eventually going to start getting things going and then you want to have the proper response.

“But unfortunately, they really got going, right?

“At the end of the day, if you have 18 turnovers and 18 offensive rebounds by the other team and 25 more shots, and you tell me that we only lost by a nine, I'd be like, ‘wow, I'm not really sure how you did that’.

“We did a lot of good things. They made some shots and it's a possession game and they got some things going and unfortunately, you know, we turned the ball over a little bit too much because that tells me that we were playing more at their pace.”

After being a bit off with his shooting on Tuesday night, Phoenix talisman Sobey was not going to do it again against his former side, and came out with 11 first quarter points including 3/5 from three-point range.

But it was the Sixers who stole the early advantage with bigs Isaac Humphries and Nick Rakocevic doing most of the damage, and Matt Kenyon stepping in for four points at the first break.

A three pointer just before quarter time to Cotton had the Sixers leading by 11 points in hostile territory, stunning the primarily Phoenix-supporting Crowd at John Cain Arena.

With Zylan Cheatham bringing the energy including a huge block on Malique Lewis at one end and three big dunks at the other, and the Sixers shooting at 73 per-cent from the field in the first half, the lead stretched to 18 before some controversial calls by the officials – two of them successfully challenged by Wells – saw momentum swing, though the advantage remained at 13 points as the sides went to the rooms for the half time break.

But within five third-period minutes the Phoenix were in front with Sobey running hot and the Sixers having no answers.

The sides started the final stanza with the home team in front by six points and all to play for.

With momentum and a vocal crowd on their side, the Phoenix controlled the ball better and were strong on the offensive glass to force repeated scoring opportunities, proving too strong on the night.

Wells said the group will reset quickly and refocus on getting home and improving in Tuesday night’s game.

“Our crowd, the (Adelaide) Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night, will be a factor,” he said.

“They're great. They've supported us all year.

“We've been a really good team the whole year. I know nobody else in the NBL or anywhere else believes that we've been a good team, but we have been a pretty good team the whole year, and it's why we sat on top of the ladder (for so long) and why we have home court.

“In a game that's an elimination game or one team's gonna walk away and have to pack up their uniforms, I'd rather play that one at home, right?

“We'll reset and refocus and take a look at these things (to improve on), and then have another opportunity to extend our season.”

The sides meet again in Adelaide on Tuesday evening from 7:00pm ACDT.