Kings celebrate banner night with victory against Bullets

In front of the biggest stand-alone home-opener (11, 478 fans), the Sydney Kings moved to 2-0 on the season by downing the Brisbane Bullets 100-90 at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday night. 

Match summary 

The reigning champions started the stronger by racing out to an 8-3 before the visitors rattled off nine of the next 13 (including three triples) – to lead by two midway through term one. Despite poor shooting throughout the rest of quarter one, late threes by Kouat Noi and Dejan Vasiljevic ensured the hosts led 24-23 at the first change. 

Scoring slowed for both teams to start the second before four straight from Jordi Hunter sparked the Kings’ attack into action by going on a 10-0 run, to stretch their lead to nine – before the Bullets closed to within seven (46-39) thanks to Tyler Johnson at half-time. 

Two explosive dunks by Justin Simon, on the back of strong defensive plays, jolted the Kings further in front in the third, as the lead grew to 11. But Sydney’s poor free-throw shooting (5-15 through the first 30 minutes) and the Bullets ending on a 10-3 run, saw the contest all tied up (67-all) at three-quarter-time. 

The fourth proved to be a back-and-forth affair, with Xavier Cooks and Derrick Walton Jr trading blows with DJ Mitchell (eight straight for the Bullets). As the term progressed, it became the Walton show, with the former NBA point guard adding 10 points and a couple of dimes – to seal the Kings’ 10-point victory.

Where the match was decided 

From a statistical perspective, the Kings dominated the Bullets in field goal percentage (53 per cent to 45), rebounding (43-35), points in the paint (52-28) and fast-break points (13-4) - which sealed their second consecutive win to open NBL23. 

Key moment 

With both teams trading baskets for the first quarter and a half, a 10-run (which included buckets by Hunter, Vasiljevic, Cooks and Walton), in less than three minutes, laid the platform for the Kings’ victory – with that defensive intensity and energy carrying throughout the rest of the contest. 

Player of the game 

As impressive as Walton Jr (21 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals) was in his first appearance at Qudos Bank Arena, especially in the fourth quarter, the top performer in the victory – fittingly on the night the NBL22 champions received their rings and unveiled their banner – was last season’s Finals MVP Xavier Cooks, who finished with 23 points, 11 boards, three dimes and one block. 

What’s next 

Chase Buford’s outfit, who are now 2-0 on the season, now travel to John Cain Arena to take on fierce rivals Melbourne United from 4pm AEDT on Sunday – a match in which the Hoops Capital side will be out to break the all-time NBL consecutive road wins record, which they currently equally hold on 13 with the Canberra Cannons (1984-85).