Bullets shoot down Kings at Qudos Bank Arena

The Sydney Kings suffered their second-straight home loss on Sunday night, losing 101-93 to the Brisbane Bullets at Qudos Bank Arena.

The defeat, which ends a 10-game win streak the Kigns had over their Queensland rivals, was played in front of 13,078 fans.

Match summary 

Nathan Sobey and Jaylin Galloway traded baskets to see the board tied early, broken in the purple and gold's favour thanks to Kouat Noi and young gun Galloway. A hook-shot from Sam McDaniel tied the score once more. Creativity and-one from Jordi Hunter saw the Kings building a three-point lead, with Jonah Bolden quick to extend this to six. Bolden and Jaylen Adams created a movement, with Alex Toohey following to maintain the throne. An Adams-Galloway link up pushed the Kings into the doubles, broken by three for Casey Prather and Issac white. Rocco Zikarsky put up four for Brisbane, pushed back by a dunk from Bolden, as Sydney finished the first ten up by just one (24-23).

Fouls in the Bullets favour and three from Shannon Scott, saw the board tip in the visitors' favour, with Josh Bannan and white drawing their lead to six (32-26). Hunter put up two for the Kings, with Adams matching this to close the points gap to two. Five from Sobey and a hook-shot from Aron Baynes saw the Bullets break away once more, though a layup from Adams ensured they were kept at bay. A favourable foul contribution from Mitch Norton pushed Brisbane into the doubles, though back-to-back jump shots from Adams and three from Hunter knocked this down. Despite the comeback, Sobey and Bannan ensured the Bullets entered half-time with a 13-point advantage.

GRAB YOUR TICKETS TO THE KINGS' HOME MATCHES NOW

Quick on the rebound, Noi put early points up for the Kings, Hunter following to monitor the gap. Noi clutched up with three, though McDaniel, Scott and Tyrell Harrison were quick to draw the gap out to 18. A three-point play from Bolden and two for Toohey drew the Bullets back. Toohey came in with a dunk, which was quickly cancelled out by fouls, though Shaun Bruce pulled through to ensure two were put up on the board. Multiple free throws and three from Sobey saw were matched with back-to-back jump shots from Angus Glover and Denzel Valentine pulling the deficit to 12. White put up three, with Valentine quick to match, though a jump shot from Bannan saw Brisbane enter the final quarter up by 13 once more (80-67).

Traded baskets started the final quarter off, Sydney struggling to break the 13-point margin with contributions from Valentine and Hunter matched. A three-point play from Noi, and Hunter, saw it close to 10, with three from Hunter tipping the score to single-digits. A dunk from Galloway and a jump shot from Adams, had the Kings clawing at the lead, though fouls and a layup from Sobey kept the Purple and Gold at bay. Adams and Valentine continued to clutch up for the Kings, with layups bringing the gap to six, though fouls made it hard for this to stick. The Bullets were, in fact, bulletproof, as fouls saw Brisbane take home their ninth win of the NBL24 season up by eight (101-93). 

Where the match was decided 

A lob-sided foul count, which saw the Kings commit seven more fouls (23-16) on their home court, led to the Bullets shooting 36 free-throws to just 17 by the hosts.

Other key stats that determined the result were bench points (40-30), steals (9-2) and triples (11-6).

Key moment 

After being down 20-10 in the first quarter, the Bullets then finished the term on a 13-4 run - which, combined with the 29-15 second period, proved to be the difference between the sides.

Player of the game 

Adams top-scored for the Kings with 21 points, to go along with eight assists, two rebounds and one steal.

Others to post double-figure scoring efforts were Hunter (17 points and 10 rebounds), Noi (13 points and seven boards), Galloway (10 points and five rebounds) and Valentine (10 points and seven boards).

Watch Mahmoud Abdelfattah and Jaylen Adams' post-game press conference via the Sydney Kings' YouTube channel above. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe, to ensure you never miss out on any of our great videos. 

What’s next 

The Hoops Capital side, who are still fourth on the ladder, now hits the road and travels to Adelaide to face the 36ers on Thursday night from 7.30pm AEDT.

Three days later, they will return home to Qudos Bank Arena for the first-ever Pink Hoops double-header.

The Flames will tip the day off at 1.15pm against Perth before the Kings take on New Zealand from 3.45pm - with tickets for the McGrath Foundation suppoorted event still available here.