Rd 13: Tasmania JackJumpers v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Rd 13  –Tasmania JackJumpers v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Sunday 1 Jan - 7.30pm AEDT

Doors open – 6.30pm AEDT

MyState Bank Arena (SOLD OUT)

Watch LIVE on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel

State of Play

This is the first time the two sides have met since opening the NBL23 season at the start of October when the Phoenix got the better of the visitors at John Cain Arena.

Both teams have had strong patches of the season, but also dropped games unexpectedly. Phoenix currently sit 3^rd in standings after playing 20 games, JackJumpers are in 5^th after 18 games.

Phoenix have proved they will be championship contenders come the pointy end of the season in February and the JackJumpers continue to grit and grind out games to stay in touch in the finals race, making this an interesting battle in the midst of a heavy Christmas/New Year schedule.

Last time they met  

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 1 – Saturday October 1

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 84 (Adnam 30, Creek 23, Williams 12)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 79 (McVeigh 20, Kelly 18, Doyle 13)

A tight tussle at John Cain Arena saw the Phoenix get the jump on Tasmania and led by as much as 18 in the first half.

The JackJumpers kept fighting in their trademark fashion and fresh imports Milton Doyle and Rashard Kelly found their feet late ibn the game, but the home team ultimately saluted by five points. 

Kyle Adnam had a career best night with 30 points while Mitch Creek and Alan Williams were beasts in the paint, helping SEM to a 84-79 win in Round 1.

Adnam produced a career-best 30 points for the Phoenix on the back of nailing 6/9 from the three-point line and a perfect 8/8 at the charity stripe to go with four rebounds and four assists.

SRT Coaches’ take

Head Coach Scott Roth said “Phoenix are a strong side, Creek is in MVP conversations. But it’s more about us, that’s all we can really control. We got back to our brand of basketball last week and that’d what we need to bring every game, a four quarter defensive effort and everyone doing their jobs for the full 40 minutes. We just need to stay consistent and stick to what we know and hope that it comes up at the end of the day. It’s a short turn around from Sydney but that’s no excuse, that’s the league. It’s heavy in January, we’ll get banged up but that’s what makes championship teams, who can grind that out, make the play-offs and see what happens from there”.

Ins & outs 

JackJumpers: Matt Kenyon and Sam McDaniel remain sidelined with respective calf injuries.

Phoenix: Ryan Broekhoff, Alan Williams and Gary Browne all missed Phoenix’s last game on Christmas eve and will be ruled in or out on Saturday ahead of the New Year’s Day clash.

Opponents on the Radar 

Mitch Creek has been in arguably career-best form of late, scoring a combined 75 points over the last two games. He is certainly in League MVP conversations and will be a tough challenge for JackJumpers big men Will Magnay, Rashard Kelly and Fabijan Krslovic.