Kings destroy Hawks for Goorj’s 600th NBL win

Result: Sydney Kings 121 Illawarra Hawks 100

Stats that matter: Kings 56% FG, Kings 54 points in the paint, Kings 51 bench points, rebound count Kings 46 Hawks 25

Kings MVP: Every time he went to the free throw line, Kendric Davis was serenaded with chants of ‘MVP’. And rightly so.

Turning Point: A late charge in the first quarter followed by a 20-6 run from Sydney to start the second settled matters and turned a close game into a rout.

The game was over when: At halftime. Sydney led by 20 at intermission and the result was never in doubt.

Trending in the right direction: Will Johnston was spectacular off the bench and showed he is going to be an important piece moving forward.

Domination.

That’s the only word to describe what the Sydney Kings did to arch rivals the Illawarra Hawks in Game One of the Freeway Series on Sunday night at Afterpay Arena.

Sydney’s 121-100 blowout victory, set up by an explosive 34-18 second quarter, was in some ways not even reflective of how ascendant the purple and gold were in front of 9,402 fans who witnessed the Kings’ 11^th straight victory at the venue and 15^th win in their past 16 appearances at their home stadium.

What the fans also witnessed was more history created by the magnificent Brian Goorjian, who extended his Australian sporting record for most wins by a head coach with his 600^th victory in the National Basketball League.

“What I’ll start with is my appreciation for being able to be in the NBL at this age,” Coach Goorjian reflected.

“Those numbers are a reflection of that longevity.

“It’s not an easy thing to do and it’s hard to be relevant. I take it in all the time and think 'God, how fortunate am I'.”

That’s where the greatest ever has it wrong. The Sydney Kings and Australian basketball in general are fortunate to have had him leading from the sidelines for so many seasons.

And he coached a group that has now beaten Illawarra five straight times, scoring at least 120 points in each of the last three games.

Sydney’s offence was in overdrive for the second consecutive game, as they roared out of the blocks in the first period, shooting 70% from the field in the opening frame to take a 31-27 lead – albeit the Kings were made to work hard for their advantage with the Hawks knocking down 11 of their first 14 shots to hold the lead for seven minutes in the period.

But the bench, led by brilliant rookie Will Johnston (14 points, four rebounds, four assists) and star swingman Makuach Malauch (19 points, four rebounds, 6/6 from the field) swung the game in Sydney’s favour during a blistering run from the start of the second as the Kings ran roughshod over the visitors with a deadly 20-6 run.

Add the usual impact from the spectacular Kendric Davis (31 points, four rebounds, six assists), who extended his franchise record to an astounding 14 straight games of leading the Kings in scoring, and Illawarra visibly wilted under the onslaught, trailing by 20 at the half.

About the only thing that went wrong in the opening 20 minutes – other than some defensive breakdowns from the starters that drew the ire of Coach Goorjian – was a nasty slip by import Torrey Craig (20 points, 8/11 from the field) which had fans fearing the worst, but fortunately TC shook it off and was able to re-enter the ballgame.

After the pyrotechnics of the second period, the Kings continued to pour it on in the third, with the bench mob doing a phenomenal job at both ends of the floor, and a beautiful dime from Johnston to Matthew Dellavedova (five points, five assists) saw the home team turn for home up 98-71 with the only remaining interest in the game becoming the question of if Sydney was going to break the all-time biggest margin of victory against the Hawks (29 points).

Remarkably, the Kings outscored the Hawks 67-44 in the second and third quarters to set up what became one of the more one-sided battles of a rivalry that dates back to 1988.

And while the defending champions unfortunately couldn’t break some more records against Illawarra, thanks to one-time King Kyle Adnam knocking down some shots in the final quarter, it didn’t matter, as Coach Goorjian was able to empty his bench early and development players Peitok Machar and Bailey Hanson got some late burn to the cheers of the crowd.

The contribution of the bench throughout the game was a huge key to victory and Will Johnston talked afterwards about the mindset of the reserves coming into the ballgame.

“Our theme, or motto, is ‘Do Your Job,” Will said.

“We talk about when the starters go on the floor – let’s impact winning from the bench. Be engaged in the game.

“Bringing that energy when you go on the floor – it’s like a seamless transition when we come into the floor. We talk about being prepared when your number’s called.”

And were they ever on this night.

It’s a quick turnaround for the defending champions as they take on the resurgent Brisbane Bullets Wednesday night at Afterpay Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30pm AEST.

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SYDNEY KINGS 121 (Davis 31, Craig 20, Maluach 19)
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100 (Froling 21, Martin 21, Adnam 17) at Afterpay Arena.

BOXSCORE