Cotton too much for Phoenix in Game 1

10 Mar 2026

bryce cotton

adelaide 36ers

south east melbourne phoenix

Bryce Cotton produced 42 points and the Adelaide 36ers claimed the seven-point Game 1 win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Bryce Cotton exploded for 42 points in his first game as a six-time NBL MVP and the Adelaide 36ers overcame South East Melbourne Phoenix's 21 offensive rebounds for the 104-97 Game 1 Playoffs Series win.

The series got underway in front of a crowd 10,055 people at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night and it was a rollercoaster ride, but Cotton was the difference.

Playing his first game since winning the Andrew Gaze Trophy for a sixth time, Cotton had a perfect first quarter with 16 points without missing a shot including a pair of three balls.

He added another eight points for 24 at the half and finished with 42 to go with five assists on 17/25 shooting from the field, 6/11 from deep and only 2/2 at the foul line.

Cotton proved the major difference on a night where South East Melbourne, as is their mission, won the possession game. With John Brown III showing the way with five himself, the Phoenix pulled down 21 offensive rebounds and had just six turnovers.

They had a tough shooting night, though, and despite attempting 13 extra shots and five more free throws than Adelaide, shot 40 per cent from the field and 12/43 at 28 per cent from behind the arc.

DJ Vasiljevic also had 17 points for the 36ers while Nick Rakocevic was crucial with 14 points and 10 rebounds including six offensive boards in 21 minutes while Zylan Cheatham added 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

He might not have been back on his old home floor, but it was a return to Playoffs action in a familiar city for Nathan Sobey. He top-scored with 23 points along with 10 rebounds and seven assists for South East Melbourne.

He did have a tough shooting night, though, going 9/27 from the field and 2/11 from deep.

Jordan Hunter added 14 points and four rebounds, Angus Glover 14 points and four boards, Ian Clark 12 points and four assists, and John Brown III nine points, five rebounds (all offensive), four assists and two steals.

It was the perfect start for the Phoenix who were coming off their Seeding Qualifier win last Wednesday with the opening six points firstly with a three ball to Jordan Hunter and a three-point play from Nathan Sobey.

Adelaide responded with Bryce Cotton catching fire in his first game as a six-time MVP and the Sixers went on an 18-5 run with him scoring 14 of those points.

The 36ers went on to lead by as much as seven but the Phoenix again responded with Sobey on his way to 11 points in the opening quarter for the visitors to be leading 27-25 despite the 16 points.

Cotton continued his unstoppable form into the second quarter and by the time he added another couple of long jumpers, Adelaide were out to a four-point lead halfway through the period.

That got out to seven heading towards half-time but South East Melbourne again responded with the last five points and that cut the Adelaide lead to 50-48 by the main break.

Cotton had 24 but Sobey and Angus Glover combined for 24 opposed to that for South East Melbourne. The Phoenix hit the opening five points of the second half courtesy of Hunter to reclaim the lead.

Cotton responded with 13 rapid fire points for the Sixers including three from downtown to restore his team to a five-point lead, but the offensive rebounds from John Brown III were the biggest factor in the Phoenix staying in touch.

Adelaide were only leading 77-75 by three quarter-time but Cotton got to 40 early in the fourth stanza. The 36ers had all the momentum with the first double-figure lead of the contest with just over five minutes to play.

In the space of a minute the Phoenix closed that deficit back to two but the 36ers steadied with the next six points and that was enough to secure the seven-point Game 1 win.

Game 2 will be at John Cain Arena on Saturday between the Phoenix and 36ers while the other Playoffs series will begin on Wednesday at Qudos Bank Arena with the Sydney Kings hosting the Perth Wildcats.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS – PLAYOFFS SERIES GAME 1

ADELAIDE 36ERS 104 (Cotton 42, Vasiljevic 17, Rakocevic 14)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 97 (Sobey 23, Glover 14, Hunter 14)

BOX SCORE

The schedule

As at completion of game on Tuesday, March 10

Playoffs Series 1

Game 2
South East Melbourne Phoenix v Adelaide 36ers
Saturday, March 14 - 5.30pm AEDT
John Cain Arena
Tickets | Phoenix Finals Hub

Game 3
Adelaide 36ers v South East Melbourne Phoenix
Tuesday, March 17 - 7.30pm AEDT
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
(if required)
Tickets | 36ers Finals Hub