Bullets too good for the Kings

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media

Result: Brisbane Bullets 93 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 70

Stats That Matter: Bullets 50% FG; Kings 17% 3PT FG; Bullets 22 assists; Rebound count Kings 53 Bullets 46.

Kings MVP: Jordan Hunter competed hard all night.

Turning Point: The entire second quarter. The Kings couldn’t throw it in the ocean and the Bullets established a huge lead.

The game was over when: The Bullets went on an 8-0 run to make it a 20-point ballgame midway through the fourth quarter.

Trending in the right direction: Xavier Cooks’ return should gladden the heart of every Kings’ fan.

A poor first half shooting performance has consigned the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings to a 93-70 loss at the hands of the Brisbane Bullets on Thursday night at Nissan Arena in Brisbane.

Sydney missed their opening 15 three-point attempts, and were blown out 32-10 in the second quarter to trail 52-27 at the half.

The team shot just 10 of 44 from the field in the opening twenty minutes, and despite working hard on the glass, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds alone, the constant missing from the outside wore the Kings down and Brisbane took full advantage, with a 19-0 Bullets’ run turning a close game into a runaway at intermission.

Still, the Kings showed a lot of fight to hang in there, despite their woes offensively. They won the third period 24-18, getting the margin as close as 14 at one point in the quarter thanks to a gutsy 11-2 run, and out of nowhere reduced the Bullets’ lead to just 12 points with over six minutes left in the final period, giving themselves a chance at an unlikely victory.

But the hole they had dug for themselves was just too deep, and Brisbane responded to every Sydney charge with a big run of their own to send the Kings to their first three-game losing streak of the season.

In the postgame media conference, Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Adam Forde pointed to the obvious – his team’s difficult shooting night – as the primary reason for the defeat.

“In the first quarter there were actually quite a few good looks I thought we had that just didn’t drop, not just from three but also at the rim,” Coach Forde said.

“The floodgates just opened in the second quarter. We came out of the half and hit our first two, and I thought maybe we’re going to get our momentum here, but we just couldn’t find our mojo.”

“By the end of it I thought our good looks were just simply Brisbane almost daring us to shoot it, and then we still couldn’t make it.”

The Kings finished the game shooting just 31% from the field, made six triples from 35 attempts for a 17% return, and were 10 of 14 from the free throw line.

Jordan Hunter gave a lionhearted performance in a well-beaten side, working himself to the point of exhaustion for a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double; Jarell Martin finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Jarrad Weeks provided some good minutes off the bench, contributing 10 points.

Playing his 150^th NBL game, Casper Ware had a tough night, going for just six points on 3 of 12 from the field, and Craig Moller grabbed 11 rebounds.

Brisbane shot the ball at 50% from the field, were 10 of 27 from three-point range and 9 of 16 from the free throw line. Anthony Drmic led the Bullets with a career-high 28 points on 9 of 15 shooting including 7 triples; Nathan Sobey had 19 points, four rebounds and five assists and Lamar Patterson produced 13 points and four rebounds for a Brisbane squad that went to 13-14 on the season.

For their part, the Kings’ loss dropped the purple and gold to below .500 in NBL21 and they fell out of the top four on the ladder with seven crucial games remaining.

One positive on the night for the team was the return of Xavier Cooks, who had been sidelined since late December thanks to a long-term foot injury he suffered in a preseason game against the Illawarra Hawks. Cooks had a monster put-back jam for his first points this season, finished with six points and three rebounds in limited minutes, looked to be moving well and appears to have lost none of his stellar athleticism.

“We knew going in that his minutes were going to be restricted,” Coach Forde said of his returning forward.

“Obviously the last game he played was back in preseason.”

“The expectation was just to sort of give him a bit of a run. For him to come out and make the impact that he did just shows how great of a basketball player he is.”

“It was good having him back out on the floor. We want to try and get him up and running as soon as possible, but the first step was obviously him getting 12 minutes tonight, and he really capitalised on it.”

The Kings now return home on Sunday 16 May to face the Adelaide 36ers at Qudos Bank Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 5:00pm AEST. Tickets are available via Ticketek.

Rise With Us Sydney.

BRISBANE BULLETS 93 (Drmic 28, Sobey 19, Patterson 13)
BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 70 (Hunter 15, Martin 13, Weeks 10) at Nissan Arena, Brisbane.

BOXSCORE