Kings fall to Hawks in Freeway Series showdown

The Sydney Kings have finished the regular season on a 90-70 loss to Freeway Series rivals Illawarra, on Friday night at the WIN Entertainment Centre. 

Match summary 

Cam Oliver scored on the first possession of the game, which was followed by triples from Tyler Robertson, to give the Kings an 8-6 lead after just two minutes. Despite three from Mason Peatling and Tyler Harvey, the Hoops Capital side still remained in front. Instant impact by Kouat Noi, with a triple, stretched the lead to four, before and Oliver's jam and Robertson's floater kept the visitors’ momentum going. But when Dan Grida and Lee Hyun-jung nailed shots from downtown, the hosts led 27-21. A late Makuach Maluach three closed it to 29-24 at the first change. 

A suspect technical foul on Shaun Bruce as the end of the first period handed Todd Blanchfield a free-throw to start the term, before Lachlan Olbrich extended the Hawks’ lead to 10. Robertson was then forced to the changeroom following a controversial no-call on a lay-up attempt, which was compounded by Oliver picking up his third foul on an alleged illegal screen. Illawarra’s lead grew to 13 despite the best efforts of Sixth Man of the Year front-runner Noi. A few stops in a row, powered by Alex Toohey and Maluach helped closed it to seven with 2.34 on the clock. The lop-sided foul count saw the Hawks live at the charity stripe, allowing them to keep their lead. Another contentious call, this time an unsportsmanlike on Bul Kuol, helped the Hawks lead by 11 at half-time. 

An Adams step-back triple opened the half’s scoring, with the US guard contributing the Kings’ first nine points of the term. Scores by Oliver, Noi and Maluach ensued, as the margin closed to just three. But a Grida  and-one and Lee triple saw it balloon back out to a nine-point game. Buckets by Toohey and Maluach, both off Adams’ dimes, stopped the run. A corner three by Bruce in the final made it 65-61 heading into the fourth. 

Olbrich and Peatling quickly stretched that lead to nine before a Lee triple forced Brian Goorjian to call a time-out, with it being 74-61 with 7.52 to play. An Oliver driving and-one ended the drought, which was followed by a lay-up to Adams – which helped reduce the margin. A triple by Kuol soon after made it 78-69 but the Hawks had the answers through Harvey and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, to keep their advantage in double-digits. A heated encounter went up a notch when Adams was disqualified from the game following Lo Buluk’s antics off the ball. Down the stretch, dunks by Will Hickey and Todd Blanchfield iced the 20-point win for the hosts. 

Where the match was decided 

Illawarra’s win was set up by superior statistics in field goal percentage (40-36), rebounds (52-42), steals (7-4), points in the paint (48-30), second-chance points (20-10), bench points (44-29) and fast-break points (23-6) - while committing fewer turnovers (7-14). 

Key moment 

With the Kings on a run, the controversial ejection of Adams effectively ended their chances of a fightback. 

Players of the game 

In the defeat, Noi (14), Adams (14), Toohey (12), Maluach (12) and Oliver (11) all finished in double-figures. 

Watch 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 finished the regular season in fifth spot, with a record of 16-13 - meaning the Kings will host Adelaide in a play-in qualifier next week.

The Hoops Capital side’s post-season schedule will be locked in the near future so keep tabs on the club’s Finals page for all the up-to-date news.