Cheatham injured as 36ers upset Breakers

Dejan Vasiljevic has starred for the Adelaide 36ers in a 97-85 upset defeat of the New Zealand Breakers, who were rocked by a leg injury to import Zylan Cheatham.

Without a hand being laid on him, ex-NBA forward Cheatham pulled up sore changing direction at the beginning of the fourth quarter at Spark Arena in Auckland on Thursday night.

Cheatham was unable to put weight on his right leg as Breakers staff helped him from the floor. He played no further part in the match.

"It's too early. We'll pray for good news," said Breakers coach Mody Maor.

Any long-term injury would be troublesome for last season's runners-up, who have begun the campaign with only one win from four games having already had to replace one import with Anthony Lamb coming in for Justinian Jessup.

"Zylan's a focal point for us in everything that we do, he's also one of our leaders, one of our best competitors," Maor said.

"To see him go down like this, I think deflated us.

"New team, new people, new leaders, these are the kinds of things that we need to learn to deal with."

Cheatham's injury proved a turning point. The Breakers had maintained a slim lead most of the night as Cheatham (17 points, eight rebounds) combined with guard Will McDowell-White to strong effect.

But the Sixers went on a 10-0 run straight after the American went off, then moved in front for the first time since the opening quarter.

Sunday Dech nailed a three-pointer to give what was then the 36ers' biggest lead of the day (seven points).

They never again trailed, clinching the final quarter 27 points to 14 on the way to consecutive victories after a tough loss to South East Melbourne last Thursday.

A players meeting on Friday inspired a home win against Perth and now the Sixers backed it up in Auckland on Thursday with gun recruit Vasiljevic instrumental in everything in his third game for the club after winning two championships at the Sydney Kings.

He ended up with 24 points, five assits and four rebounds with 5-of-9 shooting from three but his leadership, toughness and playmaking was just as important.

"He's a tough SOB," Sixers coach CJ Bruton said.

"When it comes down to it, from the juniors, to the seniors, to the pros, that's who he is and he carries that. He's got respect from everyone, not only our team, but the league."

Sixers big man Isaac Humphries, who starred in an upset defeat of Perth last game, had been instrumental earlier on.

The former NBA centre (17 points, 11 rebounds) used his size advantage to dominate the paint and help Adelaide remain in the game despite giving up 10 first-half turnovers as a team. They finished with a 23 that they did well to overcome thanks to getting to the foul line 29 times and making 27 on top of dominating the glass with 41 rebounds to just 24.

Humphries was a big part in that with his 11 but import forward Jacob Wiley also had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards despite also eight turnovers.

Forward Finn Delany (17 points, five rebounds) was big in the second quarter as the Breakers enjoyed their most dominant period of the game and showed no sign of his recent groin injury.

Former Golden State Warriors forward Anthony Lamb (25 points) is acclimatising quickly to the NBL, though the Breakers recruit had too little help as he notched nine fourth-quarter points.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 5

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 85 (Lamb 25, Cheatham 17, Delany 17)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 97 (Vasiljevic 24, Humphries 17, Wiley 12)

BOX SCORE