DESPITE winning just one of seven matches on the road heading into their away game with the Sydney Kings, Adelaide 36ers defied all the odds to blow the home side away early and set up a memorable 111-96 victory. The 36ers piled on 32 points to 12 to jump the shellshocked Sydney side, and then could not be caught to record a much-needed 15-point victory at Qudos Bank Arena.

Only just keeping ahead of seventh placed New Zealand Breakers on the ladder, the 36ers really needed a win to keep in touch with the top six on the ladder. Both teams came into the game following interesting comments about internal functions, with 36ers’ big man Isaac Humphries saying the players often had no idea what role they were playing on game day due to the lack of cohesion with so much change, while Kings’ coach Brian Goorjian believed his side lacked a second back court player to win an NBL championships.

In the match itself, it was just about done before it had even got going with the 36ers piling on 32 points to 12 in the opening term. They continued that scoring prowess throughout the first three quarters, and though the Kings found a way through Adelaide’s defensive zones across the next two, it was too little, too late. A 28-21 final term gave some respect back to the scoreboard, but it was never in doubt after that first quarter.

The 36ers shot lights out from beyond the arc with a ridiculous 15 of 26 (57 per cent) from three-point range, as well as 22 of 42 (52 per cent) from inside the arc. Few teams will lose with those numbers, and while the Kings also shot well, started too slowly to get a proper look in.

Kendric Davis put up an impressive 30 points, shooting five of seven from long-range and paired well with Dejan Vasiljevic (19 points including four of nine from long-range). Montrezl Harrell crashed and bashed his way to 10 rebounds to accompany 25 points where he also drained eight of 12 from the field and all three from long-range. Humphries (17 points, six rebounds and two assists) contributed from inside the arc, nailing eight of 10 in another accurate shooting performance for the visitors.

Sydney’s Jaylen Adams was a lone hand on the scoring front, putting up a ridiculous 41 points including six of 12 from three-point range and 12 of 24 from the field. He picked up five rebounds and two assists, also getting to the line frequently. Former league MVP Xavier Cooks (16 points, 15 rebounds) was the other clear standout, but the pair lacked support, with only Kouat Noi recording 12 points coming off the bench as the third double-digit scorer.

Adelaide 36ers coach Mike Wells spoke of the pride within his group given the adversity it had to overcome this season.

“It was good to have that competitiveness and the group wanted to go out there and prove something,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud just of the effort so there was a lot of good stuff out there and a lot of has been said about our group, and there’s a prideful group in there.”

Goorjian looked internally when it came to blame, and was as blunt as ever.

“My job coming into this game was to make sure that my guys understood what was coming and what they were going to bring to this, and making sure that they were ready,” he said.

“This is on me, totally. There was no comparison from the time the ball went up as far as anything that involved competitive spirit. “They just kicked our arse and again that falls on me.”