Kings dominate 36ers in crushing Game One victory

And now, the Kings are just two wins away from claiming the NBL26 trophy after a sheer 112-68 domination of the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday night in game one of the Championship Series.

In front of an electric home crowd of 13,181 at Qudos Bank Arena, the Kings showed why they finished regular season champions with arguably their best win of the season.

The victory was Sydney’s 14th in a row under Coach Brian Goorjian. 

The Kings started strongly and raced out to a 12-point lead in the first term. Torrey Craig led the way for Sydney with nine points and three rebounds as the Kings took a 31-23 lead after the first quarter.

The Kings wasted little time in putting the foot down in the second, racing to a 43-25 lead early before the 36ers stopped the flow with a three.

It mattered little as Sydney again gained full control to lead 59-39 at half-time to the delight of the parochial and very vocal Kings crowd.

Tim Soares capped off a great first half with 17 points, six rebounds and one assist. He was closely followed by Kendric Davis with 11 points and five rebounds.

The third quarter saw the Kings dominate even more, racing to a commanding 34-point lead at one stage. Davis exploded in the third to finish with 25 points as Sydney took a 90-56 lead heading into the fourth.

The fourth was just a carbon copy of the earlier blitz as Sydney racked up 100 points again with four minutes to go before finishing the job in fine style. Their biggest lead was an astonishing 44 points.

Davis finished as the game’s leading scorer with 25 points and seven assists. Soares had a great all-round game to finish with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

The Kings did a superb job too in shutting down Adelaide star Bryce Cotton, with the MVP limited to just 10 points.

Game two will now be played in Adelaide next Friday night.

Victory there will see the Kings attempt a clean sweep at home again on Sunday, March 29, to claim their sixth championship banner.

Get your tickets before they sell out.