Kings bound for Championship Series

The Sydney Kings are the first team through to the NBL Championship Series following a 2-0 semi-final series win over the Perth Wildcats.

Backing up from their heart-stopping 105-104 win at the Kingdome on Wednesday, Sydney disposed of the Wildcats, 89-75, in Perth on Saturday night to confirm their status as championship favourites.

It was a true team effort with plenty of solid contributions from several players in a pleasing performance for Coach Brian Goorjian.

Unlike game one that saw the lead change an incredible 56 times, game two was more of a subtle affair with just 11 lead changes.

The Perth home crowd tried their best early to distract the Kings, but it was Sydney who jumped out fast, racing to a 15-6 lead in the first term through Matthew Dellavedova, Xavier Cooks and superstar Kendric Davis.

Perth hit back hard to take a 23-22 lead after the first term before building on that in the second to take a 46-43 lead into half-time. The shining light for Sydney in the second was Makuach Maluach, who kept them in the hunt with 10 points.



Just 30 points were scored in the third, 17 of which were from the Kings, with the Wildcats hanging onto a one-point lead going into the final quarter.

From there, it was all Sydney who got out to a 10-point lead before taking control of the game to win by 14 to secure their spot in the Championship Series.

For the Kings, Davis again led the way with 27 points and five assists in another top-class display.

Maluach produced one of the best games of his young career with 23 points and eight rebounds while former NBA star Torrey Craig showed his class with 12 points.

The experience of Kings captains Matthew Dellavedova and Xavier Cooks was evident to see through their leadership and skills, with both stepping up offensively and defensively when needed.

The Kings will now play the winners of Game 3 between the Adelaide 36ers and South East Melbourne Phoenix.

As the top qualifier, Sydney will have the home court advantage in the best of five Championship Series, hosting Game 1, Game 3 (and Game 5 if required).

Game 1 will be played on Saturday 21 March, 6:45pm, and Game 3 will be played on Sunday 29 March, 2:15pm.