Prized recruit can’t save 36ers as horror start continues

After a quiet first half, Mitch Creek led the multifaceted Phoenix offence with a game-high 23 points as his side registered its first road win of the season to improve to a 3-3 record.

The visitors had five scorers in double figures at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Gary Browne with 19 points and Alan Williams with 15 points and 13 rebounds in his first game of the season.

Read Next

The result was a big let-down for CJ Bruton’s side after last week’s morale-boosting breakthrough win against Illawarra, the disjointed 36ers dropping to a 1-5 record with another home game against the Wildcats on Saturday to come.

The Sixers trailed by 12 points at halftime and were unable to get their noses in front at all in a disappointing second half.

Vasiljevic had 14 points in the first half and finished with 17, while Trey Kell III, coming off back-to-back games of 25 or more points, finished with 21 against his old side.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Vasiljevic, a two-time championship winner with the Kings, was officially signed on Tuesday after Sydney reluctantly released him and he was injected straight into the starting five.

Bruton gave his new sharpshooter every chance to make a good first impression and fire some early shots, Vasiljevic on the floor longer than any other player in the first quarter, sitting down for just 41 seconds.

His first three-point attempt was an off-balance shot as the shot clock ran out that rimmed out, but he nailed his first settled attempt from long range inside five minutes.

Vasiljevic had a game-high 11 points on 4-from-9 shooting at the first break, scores tied at 28 apiece in a freewheeling, end-to-end contest.

CUMMINGS GETS HOT

Creek usually loves to light it up against his old team, but he was relatively subdued with six points in the first half.

Will Cummings picked up the slack offensively with eight points in a barnstorming 15-0 run against the suddenly cold Sixers in the second quarter.

Cummings had 12 points at halftime, a team-high alongside Browne, with Williams, playing his first game of the season after picking up a knee injury in an off-season stint in Japan, enjoying his return with 11.

There were some alarmingly low first-half numbers for the home side, star centre Isaac Humphries putting up just one shot for two points.

Trentyn Flowers, who exploded for 18 last-quarter points in an NBL career-high total of 23 in last week’s win, with just two made free throws and no shots attempted from the floor in the first half.

Neither player was able to add to those tallies in the second half.

CADEE GLEE

Adelaide needed something, trailing 58-74 with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter, and Jason Cadee supplied it.

To the delight of the home fans, the veteran drained his first triple of the evening then showed great hustle with a steal on the inbound and drew a foul.

Cadee cut the margin to 11 points after he drained his free throws, but with the fans up and about, Creek stepped up to nail a three-pointer as time ran out to restore a 12-point lead, Creek with 13 points in the third term.

Read Next