Historical offensive output steers Kings to win over Bullets

The Sydney Kings’ electric offence was once again on full display on Wednesday night, smashing Brisbane 116-67 at Nissan Arena. 

That victory of margin (49) represents the biggest victory by a Kings’ side over the Bullets in NBL history (previously 34 points in NBL05) as well as the biggest in the 40-minute NBL era. 

GRAB YOUR SYDNEY KINGS TICKETS NOW

It also represents the club’s biggest road win in franchise history, eclipsing the previous mark of 40 (114-74) against the Victoria Giants at Vodafone Arena in the 2002-03 season – as well as the second-largest overall victory by the Kings in the NBL. 

Match summary 

A desperate Bullets side hit their first three shots down the court to lead 6-3 early before Justin Simon’s speed up and down the court sparked six unanswered points for the Kings. Once again, the Hoops Capital side’s bench built off the strong play of their starters and stretched the lead to five (17-12) midway through the opening term. Despite a late throwdown by Jordi Hunter, off a perfect pass by Dejan Vasiljevic, the Kings only led 24-21 after one. 

Five straight, including buckets by Xavier Cooks and Vasiljevic, extended the reigning champions’ lead to eight – forcing Greg Vanderjagt to call a time-out. Cooks proved to be the catalyst in the Kings’ big run (14-2) to start the second, scoring or assisting on his team’s first 14 of the term. Slick play by Kouat Noi, Angus Glover and Tim Soares ensured the visitors’ lead continued to grow, leading 47-31 with just under three to play. By half-time, thanks to 17 by Brazilian international Soares, the league-leaders (who only committed one turnover through the first 20 minutes) led 59-40 – equalling their highest-scoring first half of NBL23 (also recording 59 points vs Perth last round). 

The harbour city side’s foot didn’t come off the accelerator in the third, with Derrick Walton Jr’s amazing 360 and-one capping a 14-5 start to the term. From there, Hunter, Noi and Glover sparked the Kings, combing to score 12 straight for the purple and gold, to lead by 33 points (88-55) at the final change. 

Early triples by Shaun Bruce and Cooks saw the lead extend to as many as 36 early in the fourth. From there, Glover continued to rattle in points, as Sydney dominated the fourth (28-12) to run away with the 49-point win – with the 116-point total being the Kings’ highest-ever score at Nissan Arena. 

Where the match was decided 

The offensive explosion was set up by 55 per cent shooting from the field (compared to 36 from the Bullets) - including hitting eight more triples than their opponents. 

Chase Buford’s side also won the statistical categories of rebounds (43-37), assists (25-13), steals (6-2), blocks (5-2), points in the paint (52-38) and fastbreak points (24-nil). 

This huge victory means the Kings have won their past five games by an average margin of 25.4 points per game, representing the most-dominant five-game stretch in franchise history - topping the 23 points per game during the 2004-04 playoffs.

Key moment 

The incredible, free-flowing scoring of the Kings in the second term, where they outscored the Bullets 35-19 for the period. Sparking that was MVP front-runner Cooks, who added 12 points through the 10-minute period. 

Player of the game 

Once again it was star forward Cooks (who joined the 1000-point NBL club last round) who was the catalyst for the big victory. 

The Winthrop Eagles alum added 20 points (including two triples), eight assists, five rebounds and one steal. 

He was well supported by Soares (20), Walton Jr (18), Glover (14), Simon (11) and Vasiljevic (11). 

What’s next 

The harbour city side, who are now 16-5, will return home on Sunday to play the fourth and final Adrian Hurley Cup fixture against Illawarra for NBL23. 

The round 15 game at Qudos Bank Arena will tip-off at 4pm AEDT, after will be the second game of the Hoops Capital double-header on Sunday, January 15 – with the Flames taking on Townsville from 1.30pm. 

Tickets for the hoops extravaganza are still available here