It’ll be a battle of the West to get Round 12 of the NBL season underway with the Adelaide 36ers looking to extend their winning streak to eight games when they host the struggling Perth Wildcats, embarking on a massive road trip.
The 36ers form of late has been simply stunning, elevating them from the bottom of the table just a month ago, to where they sit now, perched at the top of the tree and not looking like they have a problem in the world.
In a league where there are only two games separating first through to last, a seven game winning streak is just about astronomical and given how the 36ers were playing before the streak, it makes it all the more surprising.
Jerome Randle has been a man on fire throughout, after spending much of the early going in foul trouble but other youngsters have stood up big time to power the 36ers over teams generally thought to be stronger than them.
The 36ers’ biggest test seemed to come last week with a home and away double-header against the, at the time, league-leading Sydney Kings.
Instead of being daunted by the challenge they first kept their cool at home, avoided mistakes and got the job done before going on the road and getting the job done in reasonably convincing fashion.
The seven-match winning streak has left them with a record of nine and six, with the club now only needing to win around half of their remaining games to qualify for the finals.
The Wildcats on the other hand, were expected to be almost a shoe-in for the finals, but simply haven’t had the impact on offence they has last season, with their defence struggling through injuries.
Damian Martin sitting on the sidelines has impacted on the Wildcats level of success greatly, and with only Casey Prather carrying their offence it was no small surprise to see the club drop to the bottom of the table just a few weeks ago.
They were on a five-match losing streak, had suffered their biggest ever loss at the Perth Arena and didn’t even look like going close on the road.
Perth have managed to pick up a few wins in the last couple of weeks though, elevating them off the bottom of the table and suddenly back into fourth with the close nature of the competition once again coming to the table.
It seemed to go backwards again last week though as they travelled to Auckland and were beaten soundly in a low-scoring game against the New Zealand Breakers.
Simply put the Wildcats offence was woeful – their shooting percentage was pathetic and they were far too one-dimensional.
A performance like that against Adelaide on the road, even with a reasonable defence will see Perth get taken to the cleaners.
Last time the teams met was just a fortnight ago, once again in Adelaide as the 36ers let a big first half lead slip to allow overtime before they got the better of a struggling Perth outfit in overtime.
Prediction
The 36ers have been in absolutely stunning form recently and it’s rather difficult to see that changing. While their streak is a little unprecedented in such a close league, the Wildcats have been up and down, with their chances of a road win looking less than promising, particularly if Randle fires.
36ers by 12.
Tip-off: 7:30pm (AEDT) – 7pm (local)
Venue: Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide
TV: Live, Fox Sports 503
Betting: 36ers $1.20, Wildcats $3.75
Last meeting: Round 9, 36ers 92 defeat Wildcats 86 (OT) at Titanium Security Arena
Adelaide 36ers (expected)
Point guard: Jerome Randle
Shooting guard: Nathan Sobey
Small forward: Terrance Ferguson
Power forward: Daniel Johnson
Centre: Matt Hodgson
Bench: Brendan Teys, Eric Jacobsen, Majok Deng, Adam Doyle, Anthony Drmic, Nick Larkins
Perth Wildcats (expected)
Point guard: Jarrod Kenny
Shooting guard: Casey Prather
Small forward: Jesse Wagstaff
Power forward: Greg Hire
Centre: Jameel McKay
Bench: Mason Bragg, Angus Brandt, Matty Knight, Dexter Kernrich-Drew, Shawn Redhage, Corban Wroe, Jaron Johnson
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
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