Hot-shooting Sixers defeat Kings

The Sydney Kings suffered their second straight home loss on Monday, going down 111-96 to the Adelaide 36ers - in front of the 11,756 fans at Qudos Bank Arena. 

Match summary 

Xavier Cooks opened the game with a two-hand slam but that was followed by seven-straight by Adelaide. Despite a putback by Jaylen Adams, the visitors’ lead grew to 11 midway through the term, on the back of Kendrick Davis. Although Kouat Noi and Makuach Maluach (making his 50th appearance in the NBL) made an impact off the bench, the lead ballooned to 22-6 after a Jarell Martin bucket. The Sixers’ lead blew out to 21 following a Montrezl Harrell triple, despite back-to-back baskets by Cooks. At the end of one, the Hoops Capital side trailed 32-12. 

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Scores from Cooks and Jaylen Adams got the harbour city side going in the second before Izayah Le’afa chipped in with a triple – as the lead was reduced to 14. An and-one by Alex Toohey then reduced it even further. Adams, fresh off recording his 400th career assist, and Maluach then sparked even more scoring, as it was 37-30. That run was short-lived for the purple and gold, as former King Dejan Vasiljevic had other ideas with a quickfire five points. Noi did all he could to reduce the margin before half-time but Sydney still trailed 62-43 at the main break (thanks largely to the visitors hitting 12 triples to just three by the hosts). 

TOOH STRONG 💪

Keep watching our round 14 clash with Adelaide at Qudos Bank Arena live on ESPN! #TakeTheThrone @tooheyy pic.twitter.com/PPbV1tGpzz

— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) December 30, 2024

That lead grew was Adelaide scoring six of the first eight points of the term, with an and-one by Harrell making it 71-47 to the Sixers. Another hoop and harm by the former NBA big man and the lead was 27. The Kings kept grinding though, with back-to-back triples by Le’afa and Noi keeping them within striking distance – as did hustle on both ends of the floor by Keli Leaupepe. Despite that and solid minutes from Jason Spurgin, Brian Goorjian’s side trailed by 22 going into the last.  

An Adams triple tipped off the hosts scoring in the fourth only for Vasiljevic to quickly cancel it out. The former landed another shot from downtown, as did Tyler Robertson, and the deficit had been cut to 17. Adams’ big fourth quarter continued with another triple, with scores by Noi making it an 11-point game with 1.15 to play in the final term. A corner three by Harrell was the final nail in the coffin for the Kings, who went down by 15. 

Where the match was decided 

Adelaide secured the win on the back of statistical victories on field goal percentage (54-45), three-point percentage (57-31), free-throw percentage (91-72) and assists (19-11). 

Key moment 

A first-quarter onslaught, in which Adelaide led by as many at 29-8 at one point, laid the platform for their round 14 victory. 

Players of the game 

A career-high 41 points for Adams was one of the lone bright spots for Sydney, with the guard also contributing five rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

Cooks (16 point and 15 boards) and Noi (12 pointd) were the only other two Kings to reach double-figures in the defeat. 

What’s next 

Goorjian’s team, who are now 11-9, remain in Sydney for the third Hoops Capital double-header on Thursday, January 2 at Qudos Bank Arena. 

The Flames will first take on Bendigo from 4.45pm before the Kings battle South East Melbourne from 7.15pm. 

Tickets to the hoops extravaganza are still available here.