An explosive bench cameo from Majok Deng steered the Adelaide 36ers out of trouble and towards a 97-86 win over the Perth Wildcats.
Having relinquished control of the Thursday night contest after a horror third term, the Sixers bounced back strongly in the final term through the efforts of substitute Deng, who rattled off 16 fourth-quarter points to turn a dicey situation into a rout.
Mitch Creek (21 points), Daniel Johnson (19 points, nine rebounds), Shannon Shorter (13 points, eight boards, seven assists) and Josh Childress (12 points, 13 rebounds) paved the way for Deng's late heroics.
Americans Bryce Cotton (26 points) and JP Tokoto (20) were superb for Perth but had little support.SDA
Sixers coach Joey Wright praised his side's outstanding fourth-quarter rally and refusal to pack it in after an awful third term against the two-time reigning champions.
"They (Perth) made their run and played some good ball (in the third quarter)," he said.
"Then it was time for us to turn it back up and get some things done.
"We didn't fold up, we kept our composure and we got the win."
Perth coach Trevor Gleeson accused his side of not going hard enough for three of the four quarters on Thursday night.
"I thought we only played one quarter," he said.
"We weren't playing with the intensity that we needed.
"You can't pick and choose."
As good as the Sixers were in the finish, they did take a while to get going.
Some sloppy ball use from the hosts helped the Wildcats to a 23-20 quarter-time edge before the Sixers found the right gear in the second stanza.
Johnson and Creek scored eight points apiece as the hard-running Sixers turned a three-point quarter-time deficit into an 51-40 half-time advantage.
But the third quarter was all Perth.
Ignited by Martin's sterling defence and Tokoto's athletic finishing, the Wildcats uncorked a 14-2 run to close the gap to two points before Cotton went on a tear and gave the visitors a 67-65 three-quarter-time lead.
But Adelaide had the last laugh, Deng dominating a stunning 32-19 fourth term.
Used sparingly in the opening three quarters, the tall Sudenese forward played the game of his life in the final quarter, uncorking a fine display of three-point shooting and dunking that the shell-shocked Wildcats had no answers for.
Share
