Humphries stands tall as 36ers beat Breakers in OT

Another night, another heart stopping overtime battle at Adelaide Entertainment Centre and with Isaac Humphries playing like a man possessed, the Adelaide 36ers overcame the New Zealand Breakers 94-91 on Friday night.

Having already played a double overtime cracker on Sunday night against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, the 36ers were well seasoned early in the new season for the extra period in their fourth game of #NBL21 up against a Breakers team making their season debut.

It turned into another night full of drama, tension and excitement with another tremendous crowd of 6589 turning out to the Entertainment Centre to end up celebrating the Sixers prevailing in overtime for the second time in five days.

It was a night again full of huge plays but there were none bigger than the performances from Adelaide at both ends of the floor from Isaac Humphries.

The 2018 Rookie of the Year is back in the NBL after two years in the United States that included an NBA stint, and he has returned a beast which he showed on Friday. 

Not only was he near impossible to stop offensively in the block for 24 points on 11/15 shooting and did he collect 11 rebounds, but his interior defence was as important as anything in the eventual win. 

He was given five blocks on the stats sheet, but he influenced plenty more and two blocks near both the end of regulation and overtime on Lamar Patterson, and stopping a drive as the clock expired from Tai Webster were among his moments that led Adelaide to the win.

He wasn’t the only one to stand tall for the Sixers though.

The defensive performance from Sunday Dech in the fourth quarter and overtime on Patterson was huge while he also had 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Then there was Donald Sloan. He didn’t start nor play a lot in the first three quarters, but he stood up when it counted with 12 points in the fourth term and overtime to end up with 20 for the game including going 4/7 from downtown.

Daniel Johnson was made to earn everything from the Breakers but still had 16 points and eight rebounds with Tony Crocker contributing 11 points, Jack McVeigh five, Josh Giddey four, Daniel Dillon two and Keanu Pinder two to give with five rebounds.

ROUND 2 PREVIEW V NZ BREAKERS 

FRONTCOURT FIRES BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR 36ERS V PHOENIX 

THE COACH REFLECTS – ROUND 1 

Sixers coach Conner Henry changed up the starting line-up with Isaac Humphries and Josh Giddey coming in. 

Donald Sloan responded well off the bench and given the win was the end result, Henry was relieved post-match.

"We hit some big shots when we needed to and Isaac had a great game with five blocks, 24 and 11," Humphries said.

"We got some contributions and we're growing as a team even though we're not there by any means. Offensively we're not very good right now, defensively we have shown moments where we've been physical and closed plays down. 

"Four games in seven nights means the boys are tired and we need a couple of days off, and then we'll get back together on Monday and New Zealand is going to be better. That was their first game and we've all gone through that so we need to rest up, continue to get healthy and be ready for them again."Tony Crocker made a couple of jumpers to steady Adelaide early and then he knocked down a three to be the spark of a stunning 14-0 run in the opening quarter that included a triple from Sunday Dech.

That saw Adelaide lead 22-8 and then they were still up 29-19 by the end of the first quarter when Donald Sloan knocked down a buzzer-beating three-point bomb.

New Zealand fired back to start the second term before Adelaide got a steadying four-point play from Daniel Johnson. Dech soon hit his second three-pointer and despite just 15 points for the term, the home team still led 44-42 at the main break.

New Zealand again started impressively to open the second half scoring 17 of the opening 21 points with only a couple of Isaac Humphries scores inside halting their run.

Jack McVeigh then drained a long ball as did Sloan and the 36ers got back within four but ended up down eight still at three quarter-time.

The 36ers had to respond and they did to open the fourth period with inside buckets to Humphries and Dech before a Sloan three and Johnson basket to make up a 9-0 run to give them the 71-70 lead.

Humphries was then denying shots at will up one end while scoring up the other. But the Breakers wouldn’t go away and led 82-79 with 47 seconds left with a Webster three.

The Sixers missed on the next possession but then got a lucky break with Lamar Patterson called for a travel for New Zealand. Sloan was able to knock down a three to tie scores on the back of that.

Humphries denied Webster's drive then on the buzzer to force overtime and in the extra period, Humphries scored first and he made a couple of huge plays, but the Breakers stayed close thanks to Webster.

Johnson, Sloan and Crocker all didn’t miss at the foul line to keep Adelaide up three with New Zealand having the last possession and Patterson's three ball didn’t fall with Adelaide holding on for the win.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 2

ADELAIDE 36ERS 94 (Humphries 24, Sloan 20, Johnson 16)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 91 (Webster 34, Patterson 16, Delany 16) 

BOX SCORE 

Game highlights available here

Press conference with Conner Henry and Isaac Humphries here

ADELAIDE 36ERS UPCOMING GAMES

Wednesday January 27, 2021
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Adelaide 36ers v New Zealand Breakers
Tip-off 7.00pm

Saturday January 30, 2021
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Adelaide 36ers v Sydney Kings
Tip-off 7.30pm

Tickets are available for purchase via Ticketek

Adelaide 36ers Memberships are available, for more information click here