Hawks edge Kings in epic at Qudos Bank Arena

By Matt McQuade

Result: Illawarra Hawks 87 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 84

Stats that matter: Hawks 12 three-pointers; Rebound count Kings 47 Hawks 33; Kings 13 offensive rebounds; Hawks six turnovers

Kings MVP: Xavier Cooks ran himself into the ground to try and will his team to victory.

Turning Point: A 7-0 Hawks run in the fourth quarter that stopped a Kings’ surge at a key moment.

The game was over when: Dejan Vasiljevic missed a desperation heave to send the game into overtime.

Trending in the right direction: Wani Swaka Lo Buluk knocked down three triples in a welcome sign heading to the playoffs.

The battle may have been lost, but the war is just beginning.

That’s the message for all Kings fans after the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings launched a brave second half fightback that fell just short on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena as they went down 87-84 to the Illawarra Hawks.

A monster attendance of 12,632 – the fifth largest home crowd in Sydney Kings franchise history – saw an undermanned Kings unit missing Jaylen Adams roar back from a first half Illawarra offensive blitzkrieg and go within a play of winning the game.

That play – a well-executed inbound pass to Ian Clark (10 points, six assists), with less than three seconds remaining and Sydney trailing by two – resulted in a made three-pointer from the corner that brought the house down.

Unfortunately, before he launched the shot, Ian had stepped out of bounds, negating the basket, and the Hawks were able to hang on in yet another epic confrontation in this 106-game rivalry.

The result gave Illawarra second place at the end of the minor rounds and homecourt advantage in the semi-final series. However, it also gave the Kings a couple of extra days recovery time, given a win by Sydney would have meant the series commenced on Wednesday – Game One of the semi-final is this Friday in Wollongong.

“It’s probably the ideal result for us obviously to give Jaylen and Jarell (Martin) and everybody else a few more days to rest,” a philosophical Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Chase Buford said afterwards.

“I’m proud of the way the guys fought back. To have everything go against them the way it was – credit to Illawarra, they were on fire.

“Fadeaway, tough, highly contested threes and they were all going in. They shoot 44% from three and do a great job shot-making, built up enough of a lead that they were able to hang on at the end.

“But I’m really proud of our guys for fighting back. Especially in a game where we all knew that probably the best result was to get a few more days rest; let Jaylen get healthy, let ’Rell get better, give X (Xavier Cooks), Ian and all these other guys who are carrying things the chance to really get their feet under them and be ready to go win a basketball game.”

After opening with a turnaround jumper in the paint to the indefatigable Xavier Cooks (20 points, 14 rebounds, three assists), who should have locked up All-NBL First Team honours with another lionhearted display, the Hawks responded with a tremendous long-range assault led by Justinian Jessup (24 points, three rebounds), who was unconscious in the first quarter.

Jessup was a perfect six for six from the field in the opening ten minutes for 15 points including three triples, and had great support from Tyler Harvey (15 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals) who had six points of his own as the duo powered Illawarra to a stunning 32-18 advantage at the end of the first.

The Hawks’ lead grew to as much as 18 points early in the third quarter as Duop Reath (12 points, six rebounds) began to impose his will and his teammates continued to fill it up.

At that stage, the Hawks fans in the building were smelling a blowout.

But Jarell Martin (13 points, five rebounds), coming back from a Covid-related absence and playing limited minutes, had six important points off the bench to keep Sydney at least in contact.

However, a questionable foul call with one second remaining gave Antonius Cleveland (18 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals) three free throws, all of which he duly made to give Illawarra a solid 56-43 lead at the main break.

After that break, when the club honoured 2005 NBL champion Ben Knight with elevation to the Sydney Kings Ring of Honour and he received as part of the ceremony a guard of honour from some of the all-time greats to have worn purple and gold, the current iteration embodied that tremendous spirit of the past with a magnificent third quarter display.

Raising their level across the board, the Kings launched an incredible fightback on the back of their stifling defence.

And while the Hawks were able to keep them at bay for a time, Sydney kept pressing hard and asked serious questions of a team that suddenly was finding the going a lot tougher than they had in the opening twenty minutes.

The Kings held the Hawks scoreless for nearly four minutes after Illawarra held a double-figure advantage midway through the third period, and Sydney ran off 10 straight points capped by a corner triple from Angus Glover that just about blew the roof off the building.

Illawarra responded and held on to a 73-71 lead, but it was game on after the home team outscored the visitors 28-17 in the third.

The fourth quarter became an arm wrestle, with defence the order of the day. After Jessup started proceedings with a three, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (11 points, two rebounds) came right back with a triple of his own as the intensity lifted even higher.

Sydney kept the pressure on, and when Cooks made a pair at the charity stripe and Swaka Lo Buluk went to the bucket for a deuce, the Kings had their first lead since early in the first quarter and Qudos Bank Arena was a madhouse.

But the Hawks refused to yield, and responded with a critical 7-0 run that would give them back the lead – a lead they would ultimately not relinquish.

After Clark’s turnover with two seconds left, the Kings quickly fouled Jessup, who made one of two at the line. Dejan Vasiljevic (11 points, four rebounds) launched a desperation heave at the buzzer that was off the mark, and Illawarra survived.

Despite that, Sydney had their opportunities down the stretch to win the ballgame, but it was always going to be tough without their stellar floor leader, who will be chomping at the bit to get back on the floor this coming Friday.

The Kings shot the ball at 44% from the field, were 9 of 28 from three-point range and 15 of 20 from the free throw line. Sydney finished with 40 points in the paint and outrebounded Illawarra 47-33.

So, the preliminaries are over. Now the real stuff begins.

With the minor rounds now complete, attention turns to what figures to be an epic semi-final series between the Kings and the Hawks.

Game One is Friday 29 April at the WIN Entertainment Centre, with tipoff at 7:30pm AEST. Game Two will be Sunday 1 May at Qudos Bank Arena, with tipoff at 3:00pm AEST. And if a third game is required, it will be held back at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Tuesday 3 May, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30pm.

Tickets will be on sale shortly for Game Two of the series via Ticketek.

#WE ARE KINGS

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 87 (Jessup 24, Cleveland 18, Harvey 15)
BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Cooks 20, Martin 13, Vasiljevic 11, Swaka Lo Buluk 11) at Qudos Bank Arena

BOXSCORE