It is the dawn of a new era for South East Melbourne Phoenix after stunning heavily-backed cross-town rivals Melbourne United.
The Adelaide 36ers celebrated Jason Cadee’s 400th NBL match with a hard-fought win.
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SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX defeated MELBOURNE UNITED — 93-84
An evolutionary week for South East Melbourne Phoenix, with a new coach set to be unveiled, was topped off with a sweet upset 93-84 Throwdown win over Melbourne United in a spicy clash at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
The Phoenix rose up for their first win of NBL25 after starting the season 0-5 under previous coach Mike Kelly. It put an end to the Phoenix’s wretched run in the Throwdown, ending a six-game losing streak with their first win since 2022.
The Phoenix have set a press conference for 11am on Monday morning where they will announce their new coach.
Phoenix officials would not confirm the rumoured appointment of former Darussafaka (Turkish Super League) coach Josh King.
It is expected that King will be the man to lead Phoenix after the club parted ways with former coach Kelly and had Sam Mackinnon take over in the interim.
Mackinnon is expected to remain coach for the Phoenix’s trip to Christchurch on Thursday night, but understands his time in the top job will be short lived.
“I think that will figure itself out,” Mackinnon said.
“I kind of know what’s going on, so all I can do is control my next day.
“These guys are listening to me and I love them for that.
“I’m going to go to New Zealand on Thursday and do our best and what will be will be.”
Mackinnon was thrilled to lead the Phoenix to their first win of NBL25, particularly against the cross-town rivals United, who have already flashed their championship ambitions in the early part of this season.
The 48-year-old Mackinnon, who made no secret of his intention to one day become a permanent head coach in the NBL during his post-match press conference, felt like he was able to impress upon a struggling Phoenix team in a short time to make the changes required to at least be competitive against United.
“It’s been a clearly well documented tough year and getting the group together and jelling,” Mackinnon said.
“I think with what happened last week, I took a chance to, I guess, imprint how I wanted us to play and a style and a level of intensity and commitment.
“The guys, to their credit, were great during the week training and have been fantastic.”
Centre Jordan Hunter provided a hard edge for the Phoenix with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Hunter’s willingness to attack the basket forced United centre Rob Loe to foul out in just 17 minutes and rendered Marcus Lee ineffective with just five points in 19 minutes.
Hunter was also involved in a running battle with United guard Chris Goulding, who felt like Hunter gave his arm an extra yank when they tangled for a rebound, prompting a furious response from Goulding. Goulding then bumped Hunter heavily off the ball.
“Those things are pretty bang bang, everyone is trying to box out, I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Hunter said.
“I leave that up to the men in green to decide what happened, I think they got it right, I’m never trying to hurt anyone or do anything like that, I’m not sure if Chris is either.”
Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhari hit out at Goulding, writing on X: “Goulding constantly flops and cries about it, that sh*t is weak.”
On the next play, Goulding hit a three to put United up 26-18 and he mouthed off at the Phoenix bench.
It threatened to boil over once again when United centre Rob Loe floored Hunter on a layup and Hunter remonstrated.
It was clear that neither side was going to take a backward step.
A big development for Phoenix was the influence of shooting guard Nathan Sobey, who Mackinnon unlocked by giving extra ball handling responsibilities to Angus Glover, who had eight assists to go with seven points.
Sobey and Glover were crucial for Phoenix when point guard Derrick Walton Jr succumbed to a hamstring injury.
Sobey finished with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
NBL Wrap: 36ers withstand scare | 00:58
ADELAIDE 36ERS defeated TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS — 77-73
The Adelaide 36ers celebrated Jason Cadee’s 400th NBL match with a hard-fought win, Montrezl Harrell and Kendric Davis sparking the Sixers, who came from behind to score a four-point victory over the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday.
Mike Well’s side threw off a disjointed first half on offence to power to a double-digit lead on the back of a stunning 16-0 run late in the third term and into the final stanza, then held off the visitors to make it eight wins in a row at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Milton Doyle, who finished with 22 points, drained a three-pointer with nine seconds left to cut the margin to just two points, but Davis kept his composure to nail two free throws seconds later to seal the win.
“I think our defence probably kept us in the game, but our energy in the third quarter – the way we came out, got after it, and created some havoc – it started defensively and led to the offence,” Wells’ said.
“We got a bunch of easy baskets and were able to change the momentum of the game.
“There wasn’t any sense of panic in the locker room at half-time … there was a willingness to get out there and really play Sixer basketball, and the style that we’ve been trying to get to.”
The JackJumpers slipped to a 2-5 record on the back of a third loss in a row, while the 36ers improved to 4-3.
In his first game since signing on for the rest of the season, Harrell lit up the home crowd with his typically physical play and finished with 22 points, while Davis had a game-high 23.
Jarrell Martin played his first game of the season after recovering from a foot injury and showed flashes of brilliance in his limited minutes.
Tasmania’s scoring woes this season have been well-documented, with the reigning champions last in the league in points per game and three-point shooting percentage.
The 36ers have had no such issues, ranked in the top two in those statistics, but they struggled to find their rhythm on offence early, especially from outside the arc.
The sputtering Sixers were 0-from-5 from three-point range in the first quarter, and 5-from-15 overall, to manage an anaemic 13 points in their worst first-quarter score of the season after notching 25 or more points in six previous opening terms.
DJ Vasiljevic was scoreless with just one shot attempt at the first break, with the visitors leading 22-13 on the back of a 10-0 run and their best first quarter of the season.
The Sixers’ issues from three-point range dogged them throughout the first half.
Adelaide was unable to sink a triple from the first 11 attempts, while Tasmania was 5-from-12 from long range in the first half.
The home side’s drought was finally broken with 12 seconds remaining in the half when Davis nailed his shot.
Adelaide had not scored less than 48 points in a first half this season, but crawled to 31 as the visitors maintained their eight-point lead at the main break.
A subdued Vasiljevic was scoreless from the floor, his two points coming from the free-throw line.
Jordon Crawford led the way for the JackJumpers, whose defence was outstanding with Will Magnay registering two blocks, including a monster reject of Harrell as he flew hard to the basket intent on a trademark dunk.
— NCA NewsWire
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