MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto and the Adelaide 36ers kept their season alive on Friday with a big win over the Sydney Kings, 115-108, at the Adelaide Entertainment Center in the 2022-23 NBL season.
At the brink of elimination from playoff contention, Antonius Cleveland led six players in double-digit scoring with his 23 points, five rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and one block as they edged the league-leading Kings in a must-win situation.
Kai Sotto contributed four points to go along with a game-high seven rebounds, one assist and two blocks in the crucial victory.
Now riding back-to-back victories, Adelaide improved their record to 13-14, to at least keep within shoouting distance of the 6th ranked Melbourne United at 14-13.
The 36ers are ranked eighth as the Perth Wildcats have an identical 14-13 slate with United to take the seventh place as it stands.
Only the top six teams move on to the playoffs as the first and second seeds automatically qualify for the semifinals while teams ranked third through sixth will compete in a play-in tournament.
Still, it will be difficult for Adelaide to get through to the postseason as they need not only to win over Melbourne United on Sunday, but also have Perth lose to the Sydney Kings.
In that situation, all three teams will have identical 14-14 slates and Adelaide will try to squeeze past the two squads with a superior point differential.