THE long weekend basketball action proved to be extremely entertaining over the course of the last few days, with a number of excellent clashes taking place in this time. Sunday proved to be no exception, with the National Basketball League (NBL) schedule holding a triple-header around a number of the country’s finest stadiums. There were thrilling blockbusters, clinical team performances and impressive upsets as Australian basketball fans were treated to an extremely entertaining day of high-quality action.

The day’s action kicked off at MyState Bank Arena, when the Illawarra Hawks travelled south to take on the Tasmania JackJumpers in the early afternoon. Entering this match, the Hawks were the favoured side, given they have been able to find some form of late, while the JackJumpers have been unable to maintain their winning streak from about a month ago. However, it was Tasmania that proved too good in the end, delivering a gutsy win in front of their home crowd. The JackJumpers took a commanding lead in the second term behind some blistering long-range shooting, and despite a brave effort from the Hawks to fight back, were able to hold on in the closing seconds to claim a ripping four-point win.

For the victors, skipper Clint Steindl produced one of his best efforts of the season with 20 points including six buckets from behind the arc. He made some big buckets in the second and final term, and was the definition of leading by example. Also amongst the best was Jack McVeigh with 19 points, including a vital and-one play in the dying stages of the match when the result was still up for grabs as Illawarra made its charge.

In one of the most anticipated matches of the round, the two Melbourne-based sides went head-to-head as the SEM Phoenix took on Melbourne United at John Cain Arena on Sunday afternoon in another instalment of the Throwdown series. Both sides have been excellent throughout the season, so this was set to be one of the best games of the round, and boy did it live up to the hype? The match went down to the wire, and there was a chance the result could go either way in the last few minutes of the contest. In the end, the defining moment came from Chris Goulding, who nailed an extremely deep three to put his side up by four points, a lead they were able to sustain for the remainder of the game.

Star United guard Matthew Dellavedova was at his best in his side’s tense win, pouring in 22 points as the Phoenix defence struggled to contain him. Since joining the reigning champions at the start of the season, Dellavedova has been crucial to their success and it showed again on Sunday afternoon. For the Phoenix, Mitch Creek produced a game-high 27 to keep his side right in the contest.

The final game on the schedule for Sunday was a match that saw the Cairns Taipans play host to the Sydney Kings at the Cairns Convention Centre. Sydney was widely expected to emerge victorious, given the contrasting form of the two sides throughout the season. The Kings were able to live up to these expectations, producing a classy team performance on the road, completely outperforming the Taipans in the first three quarters, in a performance that proved too much for Cairns, despite their best efforts in the final term.

For the Kings, Jaylen Adams continued his MVP-level form, producing another outstanding performance with 24 points and seven dimes as he played a crucial role for his side. You’d be hard pressed to find a more in-form player over the last two months, and it is apparent that he has no plans of slowing down heading into the tail-end of the season. Taipans guard Tahjere McCall fought tooth and nail to keep his side in the match with 21 points and seven dimes.