To The South: Three Unpredictable NBL Games On The Bounce

The last three games of the fifth round of the 2021 NBL regular season all unfolded in ways that few were expecting them to. Be it favourites coming unstuck at the hands of less-fancied opponents or action that was unpredictable to the very end, nothing went according to plan here.

Sydney Kings vs Illawarra Hawks

Sydney had the early lead until Justinian Jessup put Illawarra ahead and an eight-point run followed which saw the Hawks lead by the same amount after six minutes played. The Kings then had to play catch-up with Tyler Harvey keeping the Hawks' lead healthy, reaching twelve midway through Q2.

Jarell Martin tried to start a comeback for Sydney, who began the second half trailing by ten and after five minutes made it a single-possession game. Brad Newley and Dejan Vasiljevic put Sydney in front in the fourth, but had to fight to keep their lead with constant threats from Harvey and Justin Simon. After seven lead changes, Illawarra led by one in the final moments of the game.

From the free-throw line, Deng Adel put the Hawks up three with five seconds to go and on the other end Brad Newley tried to save the game with a three, but after that fell short the writing was on the wall. Casper Ware finished as Sydney's top scorer with 21 while Vasiljevic was second with 18 for the Kings, while Tyler Harvey led all with 25 points for Illawarra who snapped their two-game losing skid 85-82.

South East Melbourne Phoenix vs Perth Wildcats

Perth began the game with a 9-0 run, to which Keifer Sykes and Mitch Creek cut the deficit down with Sykes bringing it down to two points by the end of the first quarter. Stephens gave the Phoenix the first lead of the game, Yannick Wetzell's low post play and Cameron Gliddon's three-point shooting took that to double digits. With consistent work from them, Sykes, Creek and Reuben Te Rangi, SEM's lead was twenty points by the end of three quarters.

Nothing from the Wildcats could contain the Phoenix offence - some late scoring from top performer John Mooney (19 points, 10 rebounds) as well as Bryce Cotton, finishing with fifteen, brought Perth's final deficit down to 96-71. Sykes led all with 24 points while Creek also had 18 points in the SEM victory which moves them into the playoff zone.

Adelaide 36ers vs Brisbane Bullets

After Adelaide began the game going ahead 7-1, Brisbane went on an eleven-point unanswered run which put them up by six. The 36ers kept up the pressure and the score line tight until just a point stood between them when the Bullets went clear by double digits after eight points without reply.

The second half began with Isaac Humphries single-handedly bring Adelaide’s arrears down only for, on the other end, Orlando Johnson to single-handedly lift Brisbane back to a double-digit advantage. With more unbroken scoring runs from the Bullets and the 36ers only able to pick up sporadic scoring chances, the chasm remained between the teams and the game finished with Brisbane in front 93 points to 74.

Daniel Johnson finished with a team-high 20 points and 8 rebounds for Adelaide, with Victor Law nearing a double-double of 27 points and 9 rebounds in Brisbane’s blowout win.