Adelaide 36ers Lose NBL Finals in Overtime

The Sydney Kings have defeated the Adelaide 36er’s by 12 points in overtime of Game 5 of the NBL Finals. 

Sydney Kings guard and MVP runner-up, Kendric Davis, had 35 points and was awarded Finals MVP. 

36ers guard and the NBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), Bryce Cotton had 35 points in the loss.

The 36ers predominantly ran their offense through Cotton through pick and rolls, off-ball screens and handoffs that were designed to get Cotton in front of his primary defender so he can shoot or drive.

But Cotton was often double-teamed, especially in pick and rolls. 

Cotton often passed the ball to the screener, such as teammate, Zylan Cheatham who had space to shoot floaters or make interior passes to 36ers’ centers Issac Humphries or Nick Rakocevic.

This play transpired with 20 seconds left in game five, but Cheatham missed the floater, and the Kings then drew scores level to send the game to overtime. 

The Kings outscored the 36ers by 18 points in overtime as the 36ers struggled to score and defend after 36ers’, Flynn Cameron fouled out in the fourth quarter. 

Cameron is an important secondary playmaker, who takes advantage of the space created by Cotton, through 3-point shots or drives to the rim.

The Kings predominantly ran their offense through Davis who used screens to gain momentum toward the rim against the 36ers’ slower frontcourt players, as the 36ers’ switched on defense. 

The 36ers struggled to defend the rim as they had less than two blocks in three of the five championship games and were the fifth ranked defense this season, per Wheelo statistics. 

Yet the 36ers also struggled to defend the 3-point line as the Kings shot 43% and Kings’, Jaylin Galloway shot 56% from three for the series. 

36ers’ General Manager, Matt Weston said defense is ‘something we want to improve in’ over the off-season.