Kings deliver historic Christmas victory against United

The Sydney Kings created history on Sunday by winning the first-ever Christmas NBL game at Qudos Bank Arena.

Twenty-four points by Xavier Cooks helped the hosts defeat Melbourne United 101-80, in front of 7,012 fans, and steer the Kings back to the top of the table.

Match summary 

Behind the play of returning Cooks, the Kings started the stronger in the historic clash by jumping out to a 16-8 lead. Derrick Walton Jr magic extended the host’s lead to nine points as the quarter wined down before a 7-2 run saw Sydney lead 29-17 at the first change. 

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That margin grew even further behind Cooks and Jordi Hunter’s exceptional play on both ends of the floor, forcing Dean Vickerman to call a time-out at 38-23. The Hoops Capital side’s scoring dried up for the next few minutes, sparked by Shae Ili’s defence – seeing United close to within six (46-40) at half-time thanks to a 14-3 streak. 

Back-to-back baskets by Isaac Humphries saw United close to within two, as Sydney didn’t register a point for the first 2.58 of the term until Justin Simon hit two free-throws. Hunter helped keep Sydney’s noses in front with four straight points. The visitors’ fightback continued as they drew level (52-all) after Zac Triplett’s triple – capping a 24-11 run. Cooks and Shaun Bruce put an end to that though, teaming up to produce the next eight points for Sydney. Seven straight by Jaylin Galloway helped the harbour city side jump out to a 68-55 at three-quarter-time. 

Both teams found scoring easy to come by in the fourth, with Tim Soares and Dejan Vasiljevic coming alive for the hosts, while a constant barrage of triples by United kept them within striking distance until the last few minutes. With the side up by 15, Chase Buford emptied his bench, allowing the young guns to play – as the Kings made it a clean-sweep against United in NBL23 101-80. 

Where the match was decided 

The historic round 12 triumph was set up by statistical wins in field goal percentage (45-36), three-point percentage (45-27 - with United shooting 51 triples in the contest), assists (23-19), steals (11-4), points in the paint (46-24), points off turnovers (26-5), bench points (36-25) and fast break points (13-5) as well as turning the ball over less (18-9). 

Key moment 

The Kings outscored their rivals 40-25 in the last 1.12 minutes of the game, to seal their 12th victory in the NBL23 season and third of the season against Melbourne by more than 15 points. 

Player of the game 

Xavier Cooks was the catalyst in the win, scoring 24 points, to go along with 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals – proving why he is the MVP front-runner in NBL23. 

Others to score in double-digits in the win were Hunter (14), Simon (12), Walton (10) and Soares (10).

What’s next 

The harbour city side, who are now back in first with a 12-5 record, continue their summer home stand at Qudos Bank Arena, with the second of four Hoops Capital double-headers next Friday. 

As part of the hoops extravaganza, Buford’s side battle the JackJumpers from 7.30pm AEDT, with the Flames taking of Canberra beforehand at 5pm. 

Tickets are still available for the two games here.