BOXSCORE

Christmas came early for the Gold Coast Blaze with a crushing 96-77 win over the Adelaide 36ers on the “glitter strip” on Friday night.

With Boomer Mark Worthington sidelined for most of the first half with foul problems, youngster Jason Cadee (13 points) and NBL journeyman Stephen Hoare (10) stepped up for the Blaze.

Adam Gibson was sublime all night with a game-high 27 points, including four three-pointers, while Will Hudson and Anthony Petrie finished with 10 points each.

Big men Daniel Johnson (24) and Diamon Simpson (18) provided the only resistance Adelaide could muster, with Chris Warren (12) and Darren Ng (10) only reaching double-figures once the game was decided.

The visitors led at the first change, but were blown off the court by a 28-14 second quarter as their shooting clip plummeted to 26 per cent.

From there, Gibson and Cadee rained three-pointers as the Gold Coast cemented their place in the NBL top four.

The problem was simple for Adelaide coach Marty Clark, you can't win if you can't shoot.

"We didn't reward ourselves, we missed lay-ups,'' he said.

"When you miss lay-ups the scoreboard starts to stretch and guys panic at the other end. The difference in the game is there, you miss lay-ups, you don't deserve to win.''

While the offensive work pleased Wright, it was the defensive steel of Chris Goulding and Tommy Garlepp (five blocks) that impressed him the most.

"Our younger guys on the bench like Tommy are starting to see where their niche is and where their value can be,'' he said.

"I thought Bubbles (Goulding) and Tommy did a real good job last game of playing defence ... they echoed that today. Tommy had some great inside blocks and some great rebounds.''

Discipline cost the Blaze early with five fouls called after just two minutes of play - including two on Worthington.

Adelaide responded with triples to Johnson and Stephen Weigh to open up a six-point lead, but Hoare produced a quick-fire five point haul early in the second quarter to give the Blaze a four-point advantage.

Cadee then nailed two more triples to end the first half and push the Blaze lead out to 52-41.

Things didn't get much better for Adelaide after the long break, with Gibson going on a scoring rampage to push the result beyond doubt.

Gold Coast Blaze 96 (Gibson 27, Cadee 13, Hoare 10)
Adelaide 36ers 77 (Johnson 24, Simpson 18, Warren 12)

Crowd: 3280 at Gold Coast Convention Centre