Kings bounce back with domination of Bullets at the Q

By Matt McQuade

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 97 Brisbane Bullets 73

Stats that matter: Kings 12 blocked shots; Bullets 18 turnovers; Kings 44 points in the paint; Kings 17 assists

Kings MVP: Xavier Cooks was virtually everywhere and the Bullets had no answers for him.

Turning Point: A 9-0 run midway through the opening quarter set the tone for the Kings’ impressive win.

The game was over when: Realistically by halftime, but let’s just say when Dejan Vasiljevic launched a volley of three-point bombs in the third period that put the game to bed.

Trending in the right direction: Matur Maker’s length and defensive activity (three blocked shots) were a highlight.

That’s what you call a bounce-back performance.

Coming off four straight losses and under fire from all sides outside the organisation, the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings have responded in the best possible way with a 97-73 blowout victory over the Brisbane Bullets on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena.

The Bullets had engineered a comeback win on Friday night at Nissan Arena in Brisbane and came into the Q with all the momentum, but right from tipoff it was obvious that Sydney came home energised and engaged, and they never gave the visitors a sniff after the midway point of the opening quarter in an exceptional four-quarter effort.

“Tonight, we came out and did what we did for three quarters in Brisbane, but for the entirety of the game,” Head Coach Chase Buford said.

“The pace was good; the defence was really good tonight I thought and Dejan (Vasiljevic) stepped up and made a bunch of great plays, made some great shots.”

“We feel like that’s who we really are; making it tough for teams to score on us, making teams take a bunch of jumpers against us with a bunch of contests.”

“To keep that up for four quarters was good.”

Defence was definitely the platform on which the win was built, highlighted by Sydney’s absolute dominance of the airspace. The Kings registered an astounding 12 blocked shots, equalling the fourth-most rejections in a single game in franchise history.

“X (Xavier Cooks) got about half of those and he was absolutely terrific for us, in the paint and around the rim,” Coach Buford said.

“It speaks to all the plays he makes for us; the rebounding, the defence, and generating offence.”

The streak-busting W was set up by an excellent first half performance, particularly at the defensive end, where the Kings restricted Brisbane to just 32 points in 20 minutes, contesting everything at the rim and constantly forcing the Bullets to take tough jumpers.

Sydney’s energy and activity wore their opponent out as they grabbed a 21-point lead at intermission, their advantage keyed by the Big Three of Cooks (13 points, 12 rebounds, five blocked shots), Jarell Martin (19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals) and Jaylen Adams (17 points, six rebounds, five assists).

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And then the third quarter turned into a showcase for Dejan Vasiljevic (team-high 23 points, two rebounds, two assists), who unleashed his deadly perimeter game on the hapless Bullets.

The talented gunner nailed three triples in the frame as a ruthless Kings pushed out their lead to as much as 31 points at one stage, before settling for a monster 78-50 lead with ten minutes remaining.

To be truthful, as one-sided as the game had been to that point, it was clear there was some nervousness among the crowd of 4,237. After all, fourth quarter fadeouts had been a theme for the purple and gold over the past four games.

But Sydney ensured that the fans in the Hoops Capital had nothing to worry about, roaring out of the final break with a quick 6-0 run in the opening two minutes of the fourth period, a spurt that pushed the margin out to a whopping 34 points and had statisticians reaching for the record books.

At that point, the Kings’ all-time biggest win over Brisbane – 34 points in Game One of the 2004/2005 semi-final series at the Sydney Entertainment Centre – was under threat, as was the largest win ever against Brisbane in Qudos Bank Arena, 27 points in Round Three of the 2001/2002 season.

Brisbane managed to avoid those unwanted marks with some late baskets to make the margin appear somewhat respectable. As it was, the 73 points equalled the third-fewest points in a game that the Bullets have ever scored against Sydney.

However, Brisbane’s flurry when the game was well and truly in garbage time mattered not, as the purple and gold came through with arguably their best effort of the season, a win that was desperately needed and keeps the Kings afloat with a 4-6 record.

And while attention should be focused to a degree on the output of the Kings’ stars, all of whom came with a purpose in this ballgame, Sydney’s win was also built on an across-the-board contribution, from Angus Glover (12 points, four rebounds) and his constant energy and activity, to Matur Maker using his length to great effect and Shaun Bruce and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk playing solid, uncompromising defence.

Make no mistake, this was one of those wins where everybody who stepped on the court had an important role to play.

The dominant nature of the victory even afforded Coach Buford to unleash all three of his development players in the final ninety seconds, with Jaylin Galloway getting a score thanks to his standout athleticism, Jayden Hodgson receiving some welcome burn and Ignatius Mitchell becoming the 232^nd player to represent the Sydney Kings in the annals of the franchise.

Sydney shot the ball at 47% from the field, were 11 of 31 from three-point range and shot 14 of 17 from the foul line. In contrast, the Bullets could only manage a meagre 35% from the field, made nine three pointers from 28 attempts and hit eight of 11 at the charity stripe. Brisbane committed 18 turnovers and were outscored in the paint 44-36.

The excellent win sets up a blockbuster next week; Sydney’s sole game in Round 9 of NBL22.

On Sunday 30 January, the purple and gold will do battle with the Perth Wildcats at Qudos Bank Arena as part of another NBL/WNBL double-header. In the curtain-raiser, the Sydney Uni Flames will take on the defending WNBL champions Southside Flyers. Tipoff for the Flames-Flyers clash is at 12:30pm; the Kings-Wildcats game is scheduled to commence at 3:00pm. Tickets for the NBL/WNBL double-header are available via Ticketek.

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BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 97 (Vasiljevic 23, Martin 19, Adams 17)
BRISBANE BULLETS 73 (Patterson 16, Sobey 12, Franks 11) at Qudos Bank Arena.

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