Bryce Cotton's heroics were obviously critical but the six-time MVP was quick to point out his teammates for their crucial role in the Adelaide 36ers levelling the Championship Series including Flynn Cameron, John Jenkins and Isaac Humphries.

After the 36ers suffered a record 44-point Game 1 loss in Sydney to the Kings on Sunday, it's easy to point to the difference Cotton made to deliver a match-winning performance in Game 2 on Friday night in Adelaide.

Not only did he make the game winning play as time expired with a stunning left-handed layup, but had 28 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals after just 10 points and seven assists on 4/12 shooting in the Game 1 defeat.

It was far from a one man show, though, with Cameron (two points, 1/8 shooting in Game 1), Jenkins (eight points, 2/7) and Humphries (10 points, four rebounds, zero blocks) among the players to hit back emphatically.

Cameron broke out of his shooting slump to go 4/7 from deep for 17 points as did Jenkins to make 4/8 for 14 points, and Humphries had six points, eight rebounds and six blocks in 20 minutes.

Cotton was quick to point to the efforts of his team as being crucial to the 91-89 series tying win ahead of Game 3 in Sydney on Sunday.

"At the end of the day I say to every guy in the locker room that at this point in the season everyone has proven their value on the team, and whatever they do we live and die with it," Cotton said.

"If they have a night where Flynn shoots 4/7, we're living with and if we have a night where he shoots 0/10, we're living with that because at the end of the day that's what basketball is where you're going to have ups and downs.

"It's always going to even out to the player that you are and at this point, people just have to be true to who they are and that's what Flynn did to find his rhythm, and we know what John can do as well.

"It was just a matter of time before he found his rhythm again and he took advantage of his opportunity and in 18 minutes, to have 14 points with four threes and that's incredible while being solid defensively as well.

"John is a guy who has a resume where he's been there and done that everywhere around the world including the NBA so this is not his first rodeo being on stages like this.

"Also my fault, Ice having six blocks in 20 minutes is crazy."

Coach Mike Wells continues to be under fire for whatever reason with rumours continuing to circulate about what the inner workings of the 36ers is like which led to a vigorous defence from owner Grant Kelley in between Games 1 and 2.

Wells has only ever seen a tight and committed playing group since they first came together. That's why they were able to overcome a 14-point third quarter deficit in Game 2 to level the Championship Series like they did.

"Everybody wants to talk about some sort of stuff outside the team which I don't know because I don’t listen to you guys or watch the media or whatever, but I know one thing and in the gym the guys have been fantastic since the day we started in August," Wells said.

"This group has come together over and over and over, and we just keep finding ways to win which is a really good quality and any time you hold a team to a 12-point quarter with them scoring five over the last five minutes, in playoff basketball those are the things that you've gotta do.

"You just have to make plays, you've gotta get a rebound or foul at the right time, but we're just trying to make plays and those things are really important.

"They're a hell of a team so we just tried to get the shots that we wanted and try to have them take the shots that we wanted them to."

Wells also echoed Cotton's statements and as much as he loved seeing what his superstar did to play match winner, he was quick to point out the efforts of his three bigs up against Tim Soares and Xavier Cooks from the Kings.

Not only did Humphries do what he did in 20 minutes, but Zylan Cheatham finished with seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Nick Rakocevic seven points, nine rebounds and three assists along with the crucial tip to set up Cotton's game winner.

"I want to shout out Ice's second half, Ice was really, really good in the second half with six blocks and eight rebounds and he was in there and really effecting KD, and I thought his second half was really key in anchoring us," Wells said.

"I think we're really, really good when we're big right and I've talked about the talented bigs that we have with Z, Ice and Nick, and there's combinations for them and they (Sydney) stayed big a lot longer in this game meaning that Cooks played way more and Soares played more.

"They made a line-up change to be honest with you which was interesting for us and we were kinda going back and forward with it trying to figure out who's trying to play well right in the moment.

"In the end, I thought Ice was exceptional, there were moments that Z was exceptional and I thought Nick did what Nick does at times and no matter what he does, he gets that hand on the last ball to tip it out (to Cotton)."

Chris Pike

Cotton's ultimate faith in 36ers teammates