Heartland Hustle: First Lunar New Year Game for Phoenix Against Wildcats

Phoenix return to the Fire Pit after 57 days on Saturday night for their first Lunar New Year game. They are coming off three big wins and are currently at the top of the NBL ladder. Phoenix will come up against the third placed Perth Wildcats, who had a tough loss to Sydney Kings in their last game.

Check out the latest from each side.

(The last time the two sides met was in March 2021.)

Key Details

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 6-2 (1st) v PERTH WILDCATS 8-3 (3rd)
Where: John Cain Arena
When: Saturday, February 5, 8pm AEDT
Watch on ESPN via Kayo or Foxtel

The Teams

Phoenix

After back-to-back losses either side of a month-long break due to Covid issues, the Phoenix have hit their straps with three straight wins to propel themselves to top of the table at the end of Round 9. In that time, Mitch Creek has been on a big tear that has thrust him into the early MVP calculations.

All three wins came on the 'road', with a successful night in Traralgon against Cairns sandwiched between trips to Tasmania and a table-turning game against the Bullets in Brisbane. Creek monstered the Bullets with 22 points on just 11 shots, adding 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists in another great all-round performance, while captain Kyle Adnam sparked the Phoenix with 16 points off the bench in the 88-73 win, which came without centre Zhou Qi (illness) and guard Izayah Le'Afa (Covid protocols).

Zhou and Le'afa are set to return against the Wildcats. Cam Gliddon, Dane Pineau, Kyle Adnam and Reuben Te Rangi are all set to miss the game due to Covid protocols, as Tristan Forsyth, Lachlan Barker, Owen Foxwell and Koen Sapwell will line-up as Covid replacement players.

The league-leading Phoenix return to the Fire Pit for the first time in 57 days. It's a good thing Chinese star Zhou will be back on the floor, with the club set to celebrate its first Lunar New Year game.

Wildcats

Perth suffered a rare loss in Sydney and could be without wiry centre Matthew Hodgson, who was referred straight to the NBL's tribunal after twice striking Kings guard Dejan Vasiljevic and will miss Saturday's game due to suspension. The ensuing melee at the Kingdome gave the Wildcats their third loss for the season seeing them go down 81 to 96 Kings. MVP candidates Vic Law and Bryce Cotton accounted for nearly half the Wildcats' total, each scoring 20 in the loss.

Import guard Michael Frazier missed that game after hurting his hip in the warm-up and it is unclear if he will be available Saturday.

(Mitch Creek will have a huge task in front of him to come up against MVP contenders Vic Law and Bryce Cotton.)

Players to Watch

The MVP battle: Mitch Creek v Vic Law and Bryce Cotton

Three-time MVP Bryce Cotton, big import teammate Vic Law and Mitch Creek are the men most likely at this stage of the season to be battling it out for the MVP. Creek has put an incredible streak together, taking his shooting to another level, while continuing to show off his do-it-all game, night in, night out.

Law is a towering inside-outside talent, while Cotton continues his quest to be annointed as the best import the league has seen, when it's all said and done. It will be intriguing to see who is most-hungry in this clash and plays the biggest role in their team's victory.

Last 5
Phoenix: LLWWW
Wildcats: WLWWL

The Stats
Phoenix
Points: M Creek, 22.63ppg (#2 in the NBL)
Rebounds: B Ashley, 7.33rpg
Assists: X Munford, 4.25apg
Blocks: Z Qi, 3.5bpg (#1 in the NBL)
Steals: M Creek, 2spg

Wildcats
Points: B Cotton, 23.1ppg
Rebounds: V Law, 8rpg
Assists: B Cotton, 4.1apg
Blocks: V Law, 1.2bpg
Steals: B Cotton, 1.8spg

(Izayah Le'afa and Zhou Qi will return against the Wildcats.)

The History

Regular season Head-to-Head: 2 - 6 

South East Melbourne Phoenix - Perth Wildcats

Last time out: NBL Cup Game 4, NBL21

Phoenix 87-94 Wildcats

Phoenix
K Adnam: 28 points, 5 3PM
M Creek: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists
C Gliddon: 12 points, 4 3PM
B Moore: 11 points, 7 rebounds

Wildcats

B Cotton: 28 points
T Blanchfield: 19 points
J Mooney: 16 points, 11 rebounds

Recap

It's been almost a year since the Wildcats and Phoenix last met but that March 2021 clash is a memorable one. The two teams landed blow after blow on each other and could not be separated, until a controversial foul sent Cotton to the free throw line with 10.9 seconds left and the scores knotted at 92. He made one of two freebies and that would be the difference, the Phoenix unable to conjure a winner.

A scorching Kyle Adnam caught fire for South East Melbourne, but he and Creek fell just short of leading their side past the Wildcats in the nail-biter. Adnam was everywhere on the night, draining five three-pointers on his way to 28 points, while Creek produced a near-triple-double with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. But they were just pipped by Cotton, who had 28 of his own.

(Phoenix will return to the Fire Pit aftr 57 days for their first Lunar New Year game.)

The Quote

"Before those three wins, we weren't doing the little things at training. We weren't boxing out, we weren't diving on loose balls, we were being soft. And that's the nice way to put it. The coaches definitely lit us up. We can look at each other and keep ourselves accountable, but a little fire from the coaches, sometimes, is what we need."
-Mitch Creek on how the Phoenix have bounced back with three straight victories, with plenty of help from the coaching staff.

"As far as the starts, I think transition defence is big. We're giving up a lot of transition scores especially early in the game and that's pretty easy for us to tell from the stats, just doing a little bit of a dive into it."
-Perth coach Scott Morrison on what the Wildcats' need to do to address their slow starts to games.

Tickets are still available for tonight's game, CLICK HERE to secure your seat!

Phoenix Media (5/1/22)