The Adelaide 36ers withstood a huge second-half comeback by South Dragons to keep their NBL finals push going with a five-point win at Vodafone Arena on Wednesday night.

The Sixers had an 18-point third quarter lead rolled back by the Dragons, fell behind midway through the final term, but the Adelaide side steadied late to close out a 119-114 win.

Sixers' big man Axel Dench provided a huge impact off the bench for his side at critical times, finishing with 25 points.

Seven of those came late in the final term when they were desperately needed to see off the home side.

In-form Adelaide import Adam Ballinger finished with a game-high 29 points - 22 coming in the first half as his side shredded paper-thin Dragons defence to lead by 16 points at the main break.

The Dragons lifted massively in the third quarter, with imports Bakari Hendrix and Cortez Groves, Jacob Holmes and Joe Ingles all stepping up their input to power their side back into the contest.

But not for the first time this season, the Dragons couldn't find enough in a close finish, with Ballinger fittingly making the game safe with a free-throw inside the final few seconds.

Groves led the scorers for the Dragons with 26 points, while Holmes had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The Sixers now sit just outside the top eight with a 9-10 win-loss record, but the Dragons slumped to their sixth successive loss and 4-15 for the season.

Sixers coach Phil Smyth was thrilled his team managed to stave off the Dragons, and believed his side was starting to get its act together after a slow start to the season.

"We had some injuries early in the season and suddenly things are starting to turn for us," Smyth said.

New Adelaide import Julius Hodge - a former NBA player with Denver Nuggets and the Milwaukee Bucks - also showed glimpses of his quality in a cameo role on debut.

He finished with six points, five rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes.

Dragons coach Shane Heal lamented his side's poor first half, especially after having started Groves on the bench in an effort to light a fire under his team.

"With conceding 119 points on our court, you're not going to get too many wins, you're not going to gain the pride and you're not going to build the culture that we're talking about," Heal said.

"The guys dug in, but consistently we get to that stage where we get down.

"There's a lot more effort on offence than defence, and that's a hard thing to change in individuals."

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