King, Krslovic shine but Snakes fall to 36ers

Despite an exciting cameo from Mojave King and another strong showing from Fabijan Krslovic, the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans couldn’t make it two wins in three days falling to the Adelaide 36ers at the NBL Cup on Saturday.

It was a tight game for most of the evening at Melbourne's John Cain Arena with the Taipans trying to keep the momentum going from Thursday night's win against the Sydney Kings.

It was still just a three-point game early in the fourth quarter when Fabijan Krslovic knocked down a three ball, but that's when the 36ers made the winning break of the game scoring 10 of the next 12 points to do enough to secure their 81-71 victory.

There's no real way of glossing over the disappointment the Taipans will be feeling in the performance and end result after there was so much to like in the win over the Hawks less than 48 hours earlier, but there still positives to find.

Krslovic continued his outstanding form thriving on the increased role he's playing in the absence of Majok Deng. He finished with another 12 points and five rebounds.

Mojave King was another shining light for the Snakes. He played just the 12 minutes but made the most of them by knocking down three triples in no time either side of quarter-time and then adding an impressive driving two-handed dunk in the fourth quarter for 11 points.

They were the only Taipans players to score in double-digits with Scott Machado finishing with nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Cam Oliver added eight points and six rebounds, Kouat Noi seven points and three boards, Jarrod Kenny seven points, Mirko Djeric six points and two assists, Nate Jawai six points, three rebounds and three assists, and Jordan Ngatai five points and three boards.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly was realistic post match that the Snakes just didn’t have the same flow on offence as they did two nights ago in the win over the Kings.

"We were sluggish on offence and missed some open looks, and they were aggressive with Scott and we were slow to react offensively and just couldn’t get it going there," Kelly said.

"Last game we had Fab and Nate especially stepping up down low and inside. We had some of those touches down there tonight and some attacks on the rim that were good, and then we had other looks for Mojave, Kouat, Mirko and Jordan Ngatai. 

"We depend on those guys to make shots and we didn’t knock them down as a group consistently tonight."

Fabijan Krslovic opened the scoring to continue where he left off on Thursday before Cam Oliver and Mirko Djeric put the Snakes up 8-5 early doors. Kouat Noi then drained a three before Mojave King knocked down two of them and Cairns was up 21-19 at quarter-time.

Jordan Ngatai joined in the three-point party to start the second quarter before King knocked down his third in as many minutes of game time that he'd been on the floor. 

Cairns maintained a narrow edge most of the rest of the way but Adelaide closed the half with an 8-2 run to assume the 41-38 lead at the break on the back of just a combined six points on 2/9 shooting for Cairns between Oliver, Machado and Nate Jawai.

Machado started the second half with a three-point play and then Krslovic did the same. Machado was warming up with a couple of more buckets before Jawai returned and did the same, but the Snakes still were down three by three quarter-time.

The margin was still three early in the fourth when Krslovic knocked down a three ball. But that was as good as it got and Adelaide went on to win by 10 despite a couple of highlights late for Cairns with an Oliver alley-oop finish and a drive and dunk from King that was pretty.

The Taipans now get ready to close their time in Melbourne at the NBL Cup against the New Zealand Breakers on Wednesday and the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8
NBL CUP WEEK 3

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS 71 (Krslovic 12, King 11, Machado 9)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 81 (Johnson 30, McVeigh 14, Giddey 10) 

POINTS AWARDED – Adelaide 36ers 5.5, Cairns Taipans 1.5

BOX SCORE