Phoenix Stumble at the Final Hurdle

Throwdown XV opened with both teams finding it easy to score. The first quarter was an old fashioned shoot out with the Phoenix taking the lead into quarter time by 1, 30-29.

Defence lead the way in the second with scoring for both teams becoming less free flowing, a contact injury to Broekhoff saw the Phoenix sharp shooter not return in the second half.

A poor defensive set by the Phoenix at the end of the half, left Dellavedova a 32% 3 point shooter on the season, open to give United a 54-49 lead at the half.

A 24-12 run in the 3rd put the Phoenix in the drivers seat. The last quarter started well but the Phoenix quickly fell away, leading by as many as 12, in front of their biggest crowd of the year, the Phoenix managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

This was a game the home team gave away, rather than losing to the better team on the night.

A tech foul and two unsportsmanlike fouls late flattered the final score line.

The Result

Phoenix 90 - 98 United

The Numbers

Phoenix
Mitch Creek 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assits
Xavier Munford 24 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Zhou Qi 16 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks

United
Matthew Dellavedova 22 points

The Turning Point

Losing Ryan Broekhoff top injury in the second half affected the home teams rotations, his presence when they needed a bucket in the last quarter was missed. 

The Player of the Game

Hard to go past Mitch Creek for this one on the back of 27 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Play of the Game

After a slow start against United last Throwdown, Zhou Qi came out in the first quarter and made a statement, in back to back plays he fired a pass off the dribble to a cutting Ryan Broekhoff for the easy two, then after a steal ran the floor hard and finished with a monstrous two handed stuff.

From the Coach

"That was very disappointing, and endemic of pour last three performances. We get a nice little lead and are unable to hold on, teams are just able to run us out of our structures down the stretch."
- Simon Mitchell.

From the Player

"It was the loudest NBL crowd I've played in front of, it was great energy and that's the type of energy that gets you going."
-Xavier Munford

Tickets for the next home game against the Kings - CLICK HERE

Phoenix Media (13/3/22)