Creek, Sykes lift Phoenix into Game 3

The South East Melbourne Phoenix have lived up to their name, rising from the ashes to claim Game 2 of their semi-final series against crosstown rivals Melbourne United 90-79 at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday.

After being thrashed 96-78 in Game 1, only the most diehard Phoenix supporter would have given them hope of turning things around on the neutral court in Sydney. 

But Mitch Creek (26 points, four rebounds, two assists) had other ideas as he hauled his team onto his back and carried them into Tuesday's deciding semi-final for a chance at a place in the NBL Grand Final.

While Creek was sublime, the defensive effort of the Phoenix was what got the job done. They bled 50 points in the first half and miraculously stayed within four points despite going 1/17 from the three-point arc. 

The second half was a different story, lockdown defence restricting the prolific United roster to just 29 points, a game-changing effort.

The foul count was high and high-profile recruit Jock Landale was forced into an early shower in the fourth quarter which helped the Phoenix, but it is unlikely even the Australian Boomer could have done much to stop the 12-0 final quarter run that sealed the result.

Import Keifer Sykes (26 points, four assists) was also instrumental in the rampage, connecting with long-range shots when it counted down the stretch. 

Yanni Wetzell was sublime in his showdown with Landale as the Kiwi finished with 20 points and eight boards. He helped restrict Landale to just five points while the fouls that limited him to 13 minutes had a big part in that too.

It was a pleasing way to notch up the club's first-ever finals win for Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell.

"I loved the endeavour of our guys tonight, it was poles apart from where we were last game," he said.

"It is important that we found our feet and what is required to play playoffs basketball successfully. The defensive intensity ... we fought and scrapped and that will keep you into the game."

Mitchell reserved special praise for Wetzell and his effort on Landale.

"It is not often I single players out, I talk about games, but he got slapped silly by Jock in the last match, 
Jock had his way with him. I've got to know this kid over the last eight or nine months and I could see in his face that it took a toll on him, that he took it personally," Mitchell added.

"I had a chat with him and he had a hardened look, a man ready to go. Last night we had a bit of a walkthrough and I had a chat with him and he couldn't wait to get going.

"For a rookie professional to put that sort of performance on a world class player, it was a pretty special moment for Yanni and he will always look back on it as being pretty pivotal."

The offensive weapons for United just couldn’t get going with Chris Goulding finishing with 14 points, but missing a litany of three-point shots that are his usual bread and butter. Scott Hopson paced all scorers for United with 19 while Mason Peatling and Jo Lual-Acuil had 11 each.

United coach Dean Vickerman paid full credit to the Phoenix, especially Creek and Sykes, but questioned the change of officials for the clash and the 56 fouls that were called for the match.

"It turned into something ridiculous, who is going to be better at creating contact by running into people and getting to the foul line," he said.

"I don't understand why they changed the two referees in the middle of the series. It was a totally different game to the other night, are we meant to adjust to the referees?"

Vickerman said the officiating was not the cause for the heavy loss, though, and admitted there were plenty of things to improve on in game three.

"There were so many things that we could have done better in the fourth quarter," he said.

"Jock fouling out in 13 minutes ... we need him on the floor. I hope they take a look at this game and say 'yup, we got some of those wrong'. There are some correctables ... some areas to improve on."

It was a win built totally on effort, though, as the Phoenix out-hustled their opposition in almost every facet in the do-or-die encounter.

The signs were ominous early as South East Melbourne struggled to penetrate on the offensive end while Goulding found his range right away to give United a 7-2 advantage.

Eventually, the persistence paid off for South East Melbourne, Landale picking up his second foul while Creek scored a vital bucket to bring them back to within four. Then, veteran, David Barlow picked up an unsportsmanlike foul the Phoenix was starting to get inside the heads of the United players.

Sykes eventually pushed his side ahead with a triple and the import was feeling it with United having no answer for his offensive flurry until a Hopson triple helped stem the bleeding and level the scores. 

It was a points frenzy and United had a slender 28-26 lead at the first break.

The Phoenix racked up five early fouls in the second term to put Melbourne in the bonus for the last seven minutes, with United slowly edged their way out to an eight-point lead before another Phoenix timeout. But South East Melbourne refused to say die. 

The Phoenix were doggedly hanging in the match and a late five-point run had them trailing by just four points at half-time.

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell was happy enough to be within four points but United threatened to skip clear but Sykes and Creek were having none of it. They earned the stops required and grafted their way back to within a single point. 

It wasn't long before they claimed the lead off the back of a 9-0 run.

A late Yudai Baba bomb pushed United out to a 70-66 again, but it was going to be a furious final quarter with everything on the line.

Sykes was demanding control of the game, though, putting Baba on his backside with a huge step and backing it up with a triple - their Achilles heel all night. Coming into the final five minutes, the scores were locked at 77-77.

The three-pointers had been scarce all match but the Phoenix were making hay when it mattered, Creek splashing a triple to give his side a five-point advantage - their biggest of the night.

From there, the afterburners were on, the Phoenix were rising and Creek let his opposition know that they would “see you in Game 3”.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS 2021
SEMI FINALS GAME 2

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 90 (Sykes 26, Creek 26, Wetzell 20)

MELBOURNE UNITED 79 (Hopson 19, Goulding 14, Lual-Acuil 11, Peatling 11) 

BOX SCORE