GAME REPORT: Kings too strong for Bullets in Game One of Ignite Cup

Written by Matt McQuade

Result: Sydney Kings 93 Brisbane Bullets 78

Stats that matter: Kings 52 points in the paint, Kings 33 bench points, Kings 19 assists, Bullets 44 points in final three quarters

Kings MVP: As utterly dominant as the magnificent Kendric Davis was, let’s give it to a man who must already be one of the favourites for the NBL Most Improved Award this season, the brilliant Makuach Malauch, whose offensive efficiency and defensive effort are rapidly becoming huge keys for this ballclub.

Turning Point: After Brisbane took it to Sydney in the opening quarter, the Kings upped the defensive intensity, improved their defensive coverages, and smothered the Bullets the rest of the way.

The game was over when: Kendric Davis dimed up Torrey Craig who flushed home a savage one-handed alley-oop dunk, drawing the foul for the and-one to make it a 14-point lead for Sydney with just over two minutes remaining.

Trending in the right direction: Andrew Carr was tough on the glass, facilitated well and knocked down a couple of big triples.

Sometimes, ya gotta win ugly.

Despite a tough night shooting the three-ball, the Sydney Kings leaned on their identity as first and foremost a defensive juggernaut as they held the resurgent Brisbane Bullets to just 44 points in the final 30 minutes to get a hard-fought 93-78 victory on Wednesday night at Afterpay Arena.

Remaining unbeaten in NBL26, the defending champions – who won their 14th straight regular season game overall, won their 11th straight home game and beat the Bullets for the eighth consecutive time – were made to work exceptionally hard by a visiting team led by old friend and new Brisbane head coach Will Weaver, who has given a moribund franchise new life and much-needed leadership.

Brisbane jumped out to a 34-23 lead at the end of the first quarter with their imports Jaylin Williams (19 points, eight rebounds) and Nate Hinton (13 points, six boards) leading the way and the Bullets punishing the Kings with the high pick and roll run by Lithuanian point guard Arnas Velicka (15 points, five assists) and Tyrell Harrison (six points, five rebounds), sending a few murmurs through the 8,013 strong crowd.

Sydney’s inability to knock down the outside shot was also a concern early, as the team started 1 for 10 from long distance in the first half, and the offence wasn’t as free flowing as it had been in the opening two games of the season.

But it was all about finding ways to get stops, and like all great teams do, the purple and gold significantly ramped up their effort at the defensive end of the floor after the opening period to put enormous pressure on the Bullets.

“In order to be good in this, you gotta defend,” Sydney Kings Head Coach Brian Goorjian said afterwards.

“Their middle pick and roll was a major piece, and pick and roll defence has been a problem for us this season.

“I just thought we locked down defensively and got the glass taken care of.

“We didn’t get a lot of easy transition stuff like we’ve been getting in the first two games, so I liked where we went to win tonight. To hold somebody of this ilk to 78 points – I thought that Torrey (Craig) and Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) were huge on that side of the ball.”

Indeed, the job that TC (10 points, six rebounds) and Delly (four assists) performed on Brisbane’s star point guard Arnas Velicka was a standout, particularly in the final three quarters, combining to hold the Lithuanian floor general who has taken the competition by storm to just five assists, significantly negating his influence.

Those two Sydney vets keyed the Kings’ stifling defence in the second and third quarters, where the home team turned into Scrooge at Christmas in holding the Bullets to a miserly 24 points in 20 minutes.

“In general, we wanted to establish a level of physicality,” Torrey said.

“I wanted to set the tone for the whole team.

“I think the guys did a great job overall, not just defending (Velička) but Tyrell (Harrison) and their other guys as well.”

And while the defence was the focus, someone had to make the right plays when the team was struggling to get in an offensive flow in the first half, and who else but that man Kendric Davis (24 points, eight rebounds, seven assists), who had 17 points at intermission and was the one player that Brisbane had no answers for.

Even so, the Bullets continued to fight hard and led 44-43 at the half.

But as has been the case so far in the early going this season, there is a degree of inevitability about these Kings, and they continued to grind in the third, wearing down the young Bullets’ squad with their toughness, physicality and defensive focus.

A 16-3 Sydney run, with Makuach Malauch (19 points, 8/12 FG) prominent, finally got the home team the separation they had been chasing, and they turned for home up 72-58.

And despite a creditable effort from the Bullets, who never gave up and showed that their culture has undergone a rapid change for the better under Will Weaver, a KD circus shot for a three point play, a Maluach triple and KD’s dime to TC for that monster alley-oop – which will be on a few highlight reels – kept Brisbane at bay as the Kings went to 3-0 on the season and secured six points in the Ignite Cup by 7-Eleven scoring system.

Yes, it wasn’t pretty.

But great teams find a way to win ugly.

This version of the Sydney Kings is on its way to becoming one of those great teams.

The Kings now have a welcome 11-day break before facing the team they conquered in the NBL26 Championship Series – the Bryce Cotton led Adelaide 36ers – in what will be a blockbuster on Sunday 11 October at Afterpay Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 3:00pm AEST. Tickets are available via Ticketek.

SYDNEY KINGS 93 (Davis 24, Maluach 19, Cooks 12, Carr 12)
BRISBANE BULLETS 78 (Williams 19, Velička 15, Hinton 13) at Afterpay Arena.

BOXSCORE

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