Kings celebrate Cooks' 100th with huge comeback win

The Sydney Kings produced their biggest comeback of the season on Friday night, to defeat the Tasmania JackJumpers 80-71 at the Silverdome. 

The round five fixture was the first time the Kings had played in Launceston since 1982, when the club was still the Supersonics. 

Match summary 

Milestone man Xavier Cooks opened the scoring for the Kings, helping them to a 7-2 start. The hosts hit back with the next eight points before Cam Oliver ended the drought with a corner three. Behind an early 6-0 foul count and 10 free-throws to one, the Ants moved out to a 19-10 lead. An and-one by Jaylen Adams late in the piece made it 21-13 at the first change. 

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Adams then opened proceedings in the second, which was quickly followed by an and-one by Jaylin Galloway, as the margin was reduced to five. That was short-lived as Jordon Crawford. Scores by Alex Toohey, Cooks and Oliver kept the scoreboard ticking over but the JJs continued to stretch their lead. Two quick scores late by Toohey and Cooks made it 45-33 at the main break. 

Free-throws by Cooks and a lay-up by Bul Kuol closed the margin to nine early on, which quickly closed to six thanks to the Hoops Capital’s defensive energy. Suspect calls helped the hosts move back out by 10 but Adams and the resilient defense ensured Brian Goorjian’s side stayed within striking distance. Settling free-throws by Galloway, Kouat Noi and Tyler Robertson, followed by a Cooks bucket made it 53-49, which is how it ended after three. 

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A Noi triple closed it to one on the first play of the period, which was followed by a driving Galloway lay-in and Robertson steal and score. A huge hustle by Keli Leaupepe put the harbour city side up by two, with Noi following suit with massive impact off the bench. A triple by Toohey then made it 64-59 forcing Scott Roth to call a time-out. The Next Star followed it up with a fast-break dunk before a Noi triple put the purple and gold up 10 with just over four to play. Despite the efforts of Crawford and Milton Doyle from downtown, shots from the charity stripe by Cooks, Toohey and Adams, as well as a late basket by Noi secured the nine-point win. 

Where the match was decided 

The Kings’ comeback victory (after being down by as many at 16 points) was set up by superior field goal percentage (43-34), rebounds (49-36), blocks (6-3), points in the paint (42-28) and bench points (38-8). 

Key moment  

The Kings secured the win on the back of a 47-26 second half, built on their amazing defence. 

Player of the game 

In his 100th game, Cooks was incredible, especially in the second half, tallying 21 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals. 

The other key contributor was Noi, who had his best game of the season with 14 points, on 5/6 shooting including three triples, two rebounds and one dime. 

Watch Xavier Cooks and Brian Goorjian's post-game press conference via the Sydney Kings' YouTube channel above. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe, to ensure you never miss out on any of our great videos.

What’s next 

Goorjian’s team, who are now 5-2, now head back to Perth to play the Wildcats on Friday, October 25 from 9.30pm AEDT – broadcast on ESPN via Kayo Sports. 

The Kings’ next home game is against the Breakers on Sunday, October 27 from 2.15pm. 

Tickets to that Qudos Bank Arena clash are still available here.