Sotto, 36ers face must-win situation

MANILA, Philippines — It’s win or go home for Kai Sotto and the Adelaide 36ers after a roller-coaster ride in the regular season of the 2022-2023 Australia National Basketball League.

Hanging on for dear life at eighth place, the 36ers visit former champion Melbourne United at the John McCain Arena today for their last assignment with hopes of coming away with a much-needed victory.

Game time is at 11 a.m. (Manila time).

At 13-14, Adelaide has to take care of business against Melbourne (14-13) while wishing for a loss of Perth (14-13) versus reigning champion and No. 1 seed Sydney to forge a three-way tie at No. 6.

Only the top six teams will make it to the playoffs of the NBL. Adelaide stayed in contention with a mammoth upset of Sydney the other day, 115-108.

Sotto, the 7-foot-3 Filipino, had four points in the win on top of a team-high seven rebounds and two steals in 15 minutes of action as Adelaide’s starting center anew.

Antonius Cleveland led the way with 23 points, five boards, seven assists and four steals with Robert Franks and ex-Golden State guard Ian Clark adding 19 and 18 markers, respectively.

Anthony Drmic had 13 while skipper Mitch McCarron and Daniel Johnson chipped in 12 apiece for the wards of coach CJ Bruton in a bid to make the playoff cut this time.

Adelaide finished in seventh place last season with a 10-18 card that also marked Sotto’s international pro league debut.