Basketball: American NBA team stunned by historic Aussie first

Adelaide 36ers players react after a basket during the second half against the Phoenix Suns. Photo / Getty

The Adelaide 36ers are the first NBL team to defeat an NBA team.

On Monday the 36ers went up against Western Conference powerhouse the Phoenix Suns and handed out a whooping like nothing Americans have seen before.

Over the past few years NBL teams have ventured over to the States to take on NBA teams during the league's pre-season games.

Since it's inception, only Melbourne United have come close to walking away with the win after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime.

That all changed on Monday when the 36ers, 28-point underdogs heading into the contest, emerged with the 134-124 win.

The Suns managed to close the gap in the dying stages, but the 36ers put their foot down and ran away with the win. Only losing the third quarter as the Suns' nightmare off-season continues.

Craig Randall and Robert Franks obliterated the Suns defence with a combined 67 points but it was Randall who had minds melting across America.

Head coach Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns looks on during the second half against the Adelaide 36ers. Photo / Getty

Australian fans feared the electric guard might not make it on the plane home after his devastating display, as he torched the Suns every time down the floor.

Randall finished the contest with 35 points, a record for an NBL player against an NBA team, as he lit it up from beyond the arc knocking down nine three-pointers.

The 36ers also become the first non-American team to secure a win over an NBA team since 2015 when Fenerbahce defeated Brooklyn.

Phoenix Suns great and NBA TV commentator Eddie Johnson was bewildered in the fourth quarter, saying: "I ain't never seen anything like this".

Aussie superstar Josh Giddey, a former member of the 36ers before being picked up by the OKC Thunder, couldn't believe what he was seeing. He wasn't the only NBA player impressed by the 36ers' display.

Adelaide 36ers…👀

— josh giddey (@joshgiddey) October 3, 2022

36ers are absolutely on fire whaaaaat

— Jamal Murray (@BeMore27) October 3, 2022

Basketball fans in Australia were blown away by the performance from the NBL squad, heaping praise on the squad.

The Age's Roy Ward wrote: "Yes. It is the first game of NBA pre-season but Adelaide hasn't played a regular-season game this season either. Stunning performance from the Sixers, love seeing the NBL representing itself in this way."

ESPN"s Olgun Uluc wrote: "Mitch McCarron set the tone for the 36ers with 4 points, 9 boards, and 16 (!) assists. Craig Randall II (35 points; 9/17 3pt) and Robert Franks (32-7-3; 6/10 3pt) led the scoring effort. Each of Phoenix's starters (CP3, Booker, Bridges, Johnson, Ayton) played 22:29 minutes."