The Adelaide 36ers have rattled off a 17-0 fourth-quarter tear to storm to a stunning 103-95 win over the valiant Illawarra Hawks, whose season from hell took a dark turn with star import Michael Frazier II suffering a suspected broken arm.
In front of 9308 fans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre - the biggest home NBL crowd in Sixers history - Antonius Cleveland inspired the local side to overturn an 81-89 deficit with less than three minutes to go.
Frazier injured his left arm in a seemingly innocuous collision with Daniel Johnson and Anthony Drmic late in the first quarter, almost certainly ensuring he joins fellow imports Peyton Siva (shoulder), Justin Robinson (knee) and George King (leg) on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
"I'm going to take the high road and think he (Frazier) is going to be OK ... but it's another bad one," Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas said.
"We've got one (healthy) American again, so of course I'm proud of them.
"I'd love to get them a win and eventually we will."
Adelaide led 23-19 at quarter-time and by as many as nine points in the second period before the Hawks, despite Frazier's absence, lifted their game appreciably.
They appeared on the verge of one of their finest triumphs when Sam Froling's tip-jam put them up by eight points with four minutes left in the fourth.
Adelaide coach CJ Bruton called a timeout and it had the desired impact.
Cleveland did it at both ends, knocking down a three and conjuring a steal which ended in a Mitch McCarron bucket to tie the game.
Successive triples from Robert Franks followed and a slew of Illawarra turnovers and offensive fouls put the fast-finishing 36ers, suddenly, in the box seat.
"You don't want to have to do that too often," Bruton said.
"We got up the floor and pushed the ball but our intensity on the defensive end really got us the win."
Daniel Johnson (18 points) and Ian Clark (16) provided punch off the bench, while Cleveland (16) and Franks (16) were enormous in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Harvey (22 points) and Deng Deng (19) piloted the charge for the Hawks, who were led early by Frazier, who had a game-high 11 points on the board before his injury.
