Kings fightback to defeat Taipans in game one

The Sydney Kings are now just one win away from a berth in the Championship Grand Final Series after defeating Cairns 95-87 in game one of their Playoff Semi-Final on Wednesday night. 

Match summary 

Tim Soares started the match on fire for the hosts, registering the first five points of the fixture. But the visitors hit back to score the next six, sparked by Sam Waardenburg. Sydney regained the lead soon after though, thanks to Derrick Walton Jr starting to weave his magic and aggressive play by Koaut Noi. Newly crowned MVP Xavier Cooks and Shaun Bruce continued the Kings’ onslaught (7-1 run) despite some questionable calls by the officials – which eventually helped the visitors go into the first break up 26-25. 

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Cairns’ lead grew to as many as four in the early stages on the term before ballooning to eight following a Shannon Scott triple. Despite scores by All-NBL First Teamers Cooks and Walton Jr, back-to-back threes by Jonah Antonio saw the Snakes move up 48-38. More damage from Antonio from beyond the arc (5/6 for 17 points through the first 20 minutes) saw Adam Forde’s men move up by as many as 12 before closing the margin to nine (59-50) at half-time. 

Scott kept the lead growing for Cairns before Cooks powered a 19-4 run - capped by a poster jam, to help the Hoops Capital side regain the lead. Big plays by Walton Jr, Soares and Noi kept the host’s momentum going, as a buzzer-beating lay-up by Jaylin Galloway put Sydney up 77-69 (on the back of an incredible 27-10 period). 

A different Taipans started the third term, scoring five of the first seven, to close the margin to five midway through the last period. Despite the Snakes continuing to press, timely scores by Dejan Vasiljevic, Walton Jr and Cooks kept the Kings’ scoreboard ticking over, extending the harbour city side’s lead to eight (89-81) with 2.20 on the clock. Another poster dunk by Cooks in the final minute, combined with clutch free-throws by Walton Jr and Justin Simon, sealed the 95-87 victory for the reigning champions. 

Where the match was decided 

Sydney secured the vital game one win on the back of statistical victories in field goal percentage (56-41), rebounds (44-36), points in the paint (58-26), second-chance points (11-6) and fastbreak points (6-2). 

Key moment  

An incredible third term by the Kings, in which they outscored their Finals opponents by 17 points (which included holding Cairns to just three field goals), powered Sydney to the crucial game one win. 

Player of the game 

Cooks showed exactly why he was the NBL23 Andrew Gaze MVP winner, scoring a game-high 27 points, along with 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. 

The Winthrop Eagles alum was well supported by Walton Jr (21 points, five dimes and four boards), Noi (14 points and four rebounds) and Simon (10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one swipe). 

What’s next 

Next up for Buford’s reigning champions, who lead the series 1-0, is game two of the Playoff Semi-Finals against the Taipans at the Cairns Convention Centre on Friday night. 

The fixture will tip-off at 7.30pm AEDT, broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies and Foxtel. 

Remember, all information, including tickets, for the Kings’ Hungry Jacks Finals Series tilt, can be found here.