Adelaide Poised to Strike in Playoff Race

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

They said they were ready to fight their way back up this season, and the Adelaide 36ers proved it with a 93-82 victory over the Tasmania JackJumpers.

In a back-and-forth battle with the JackJumpers on Monday night, import Antonius Cleveland stepped up to the plate and delivered for the 36ers to gain their second win in a row.

Cleveland recorded 13 points in the fourth, with an overall of 20 for the game, alongside 10 rebounds. His aggressiveness on Monday night may be the key for Adelaide to lock in future wins this season.

“You can’t be afraid to take shots, if you miss so what. I just wanted to shoot it again,” Cleveland said.

“I just wanted to keep being aggressive and an open shot is a good shot so that’s what was going through my head.”

The 36ers sit seventh on the ladder with an 8-8 record following the promising win heading into the busy period of constant games.

Adelaide’s coach CJ Bruton is happy with how his team competed and approached the game against the JackJumpers.

“Today was a repeated success,” Bruton said.

“To be able to continue to match that energy (from the win against Brisbane) and come out and compete, battle and take a few things away early which we were able to do, to get out and run, it calmed things down a bit.

“Anytime you can get out and run, it’s fun basketball. I think teams get scared and you see their eyes get bigger and a lot can happen in the open floor with every team.

“I said at half time, this is our game to take.

“For us I think the way that we move and can get to second actions and keep pressure at the rim, it can continue to cause problems (for other teams).

“Everyone was happy for everyone else’s success which we all want.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The moment arrives, so does AC ?<br><br>Just like that, we're tied again!<br><br>Catch the ending of this <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> clash live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/xpWaebg6PR">pic.twitter.com/xpWaebg6PR</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1604780570717757442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With new signing Ian Clark on the way, the 36ers are poised to make some serious noise for the rest of the campaign.

Adelaide play the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Christmas Eve at 5:30pm AEDT.