Forged in adversity, 36ers target drought-ending crown

It’s grit, defence and an ability to fight back that has Adelaide 36ers coach Mike Wells confident his side can claim the club’s first championship since 2002 with a Game 5 win on the road in Sydney.

Across their two wins this Series, both at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, the margin is just three points combined. But the common thread has been elite second-half defence.

Game 2 will be remembered for Bryce Cotton’s game-winner, yet it was Adelaide’s defensive squeeze that set it up, holding the Kings to just 37 second-half points on 17/44 shooting, including 4/12 from deep.

They did it again in Game 4.

Down by nine in the third quarter, the 36ers rallied and clamped down, restricting Sydney to 38 points after half-time on 11/26 shooting and 5/16 from three.

That collective defensive effort is what Wells believes must travel.

"I'm super proud of the way we connected and got back, and tried to contest those shots when they were trying to push that pace and get the ball ahead, and your will not to have your season end has to be greater," Wells said.

"You're just trying to give them one contested look and there's no magic to it at that end, it's just about trying to get a stop and your season's on the line, it's win or go home.

"We talk about DJ's (DJ Vasiljevic) scoring, but he was on KD (Kendric Davis) a whole bunch tonight guarding him tonight and he asked to be left in there and I was trying to gauge it, and we won that game because we did some things on the defensive side of the ball.

"Defence and rebounding probably ends up being something that you can hang your hat on every day, and we'll have to do that in a road game again on Sunday."

For much of this season, and even dating back to last year, the 36ers have been a lightning rod for outside noise, with Davis and Montrezl Harrell often at the centre of it.

Through it all, and despite constant speculation around Wells’ job security, Adelaide has stayed the course. A 23-10 regular season has them now just one win away from a title.

Wells believes everything his group has endured has only strengthened their belief.

"We've been on the ropes twice and we've been in two elimination games, and when you're in that type of situation and you win, you get a belief and we believe that we can win," Wells said.

"We believe that we can go to Sydney and win, and that's what this thing's about and in my years in the NBA, my very first year was 1995 at the Houston Rockets and we had several elimination games on the road.

"Between the 1994 and 1995 championships, they won something like 10, 11 or 12 elimination games and when you win elimination games together, it brings a belief in each other and the system of what we do."

The last three NBL Championship Series have all gone to a Game 5 decider, and while home teams have largely held serve, winning on the road isn’t unheard of.

The Tasmania JackJumpers proved that in NBL24 with a famous win in Melbourne. Since then, the Kings in NBL23 and Illawarra Hawks in NBL25 have taken care of business on their home floor.

Wells doesn’t see history as a barrier.

"It's time for somebody to break the home court winning streak and we know the challenge, we know what the odds are and we know the history of winning a final game on an opponent's court," Wells said.

"It will take an unbelievable effort and everybody will need to pull together, and you have to be really good and get a little lucky so it's a hell of a challenge, but I'm just excited for the group from where we started in August to end the season in this game."