Almost five months after the painful 33-point defeat in Game 7 of the 2022 NBA Playoff Conference Semifinals to the Dallas Mavericks, the Phoenix Suns relived that nightmare again in front of his audience during the preseason premiere against the Adelaide 36ers, team from the Australian First Division (NBL). The visiting victory for 124-143 meant the first win by a foreign team over an NBA team since 2016. On that occasion, Real Madrid beat Oklahoma City Thunder with a guy Luca Doncic in the model.
The baton of the Slovenian, the nightmare of the Arizona franchise in the last postseason, was picked up by a former G-League and University of Memphis player, Craig Randall. Scoring 35 points with a streak of 13 out of 21 in field goals, including 9 out of 17 in triples, the shooting guard riddled the Suns in front of his astonished crowd.
He was not alone since then Roberto Franchi he also showed off with 32 points and 6 out of 10 from the line of three. Between them, they teamed up to score 67 points and 15 triples out of 27 attempts, real bullshit. And even more so if we take into account that 36ers usually play with the FIBA triple distance line, which is significantly closer to the basket.
Cameron Payne led Phoenix with 23 points, while Mikal bridges y Deandre Ayton they added 22 each. All the starters played and Devin Booker had 13. Chris Paul distributed 12 assists, topped by Mitch McCarron, who assisted 16 times for the Australians. Adelaide are not exactly one of the great teams in the Australian league. Last year they were seventh out of ten teams in the standings with a balance of 10 wins and 18 losses. Over the past decade, NBA teams have only lost five times to rivals from other competitions.
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