Kings' Christmas comeback falls short against Hawks

The Sydney Kings’ winning streak is over after losing a Christmas night thriller to Freeway Series rivals, the Illawarra Hawks 111-108. 

Match summary 

The red-hot Jaylen Adams opened the match’s scoring, before Alex Toohey and Keli Leaupepe converted from the field, to give the hosts an 11-9 lead. That lead grew to six thanks to Xavier Cooks’ aggression on the rim, as well as seven quick ones by Toohey. Despite a strong impact off the bench yet again by Kouat Noi, the Hawks closed the margin to four thanks to Darius Days and Lee Hyun-jung. Late free-throws by Leaupepe and Adams stretched the Hoops Capital side’s lead to eight at the first change. 

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Tyler Harvey and Will Hickey’s triples were cancelled out by Noi. He and Toohey combined for 13 of the Kings’ first 15 points of the term, as the lead grew to 10. The visitors responded with a 12-4 run, which was ended by an Izayah Le’afa triple. Noi was doing all he could on offence but the backcourt of Harvey and Trey Kell III saw the Hawks close to within three. A triple by the former levelled it at 55-all before late threes by Shaun Bruce and Kell saw it all square at 58-all at the main break. 

Leaupepe’s early hustle resulted in a Le’afa triple, which was followed by scores by Toohey and the Loyola Marymount University alum. The Kings’ New Zealand international continued his strong second half with another three before Adams’ offence began to heat up. But so did the Hawks, who moved up by four following a Lachlan Olbrich lay-in. Noi responded with five straight, as the Kings regained the lead momentarily. Back-to-back blocks by Cam Oliver then ignited the crowd. Despite that, the hosts by seven heading into the fourth. 

That lead ballooned to double-digits, despite scores by Oliver, Noi and Adams in the opening few minutes of the fourth. Another Lee triple and Kell shots from the charity stripe made it 105-91 with 6.57 to play. Energy from Leaupepe, combined with tough finishes by Adams closed the margin. Cooks then took a charge and converted a close one, to reduce the deficit to seven, which soon became four with a Toohey triple. An and-one by Leaupepe reduced it to one point but a clutch triple by Kell pushed Illawarra’s lead back to five. A late score by Cooks and tight defence by the Kings gave the harbour city side a chance to tie it up with 3.8 seconds left but Noi’s triple missed – seeing the Hawks win by three points. 

Where the match was decided 

The Hawks secured the victory thanks to statistical wins in assists (25-20), points off turnovers (21-13), bench points (36-31) and fast-break points (12-6). 

Key moment 

Down the stretch, with the game in balance at 105-104 following a Leaupepe and-one, the Hawks held their nerve to outscore their opponents 6-4 to record their fifth straight win over the Kings. 

Players of the game 

NBL Next Star Toohey top-scored for the hosts with 25 points (including three triples), four rebounds, three steals and one block. 

Other standouts for the purple and gold were Adams (18 points and seven dimes), Leauepepe (14 points and 12 boards) and Cooks (11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists). 

Watch Brian Goorjian's post-game press conference via Sydney Flames’ 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 11-8, remain in Sydney for the second Hoops Capital double-header of the season on Monday, December 30 at Qudos Bank Arena. 

The Kings will take on Adelade from 7.15pm, with the Flames battling Southside beforehand at 4.45pm 

Tickets to the hoops extravaganza are still available here.