Kings grind out tough road win against Bullets

The Sydney Kings ground out a hard-fought 91-86 road win against the Bullets at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday night.

Match summary 

Brisbane’s Casey Prather and Josh Adams (in his first game for the club) hit back-to-back triples, which combined with a Keandre Cook, saw them lead 8-2. But multiple buckets by Jaylen Adams and Xavier Cooks saw the visitors respond. These were followed by a triple to Alex Toohey and an and-one finish by Cam Oliver, as the Hoops Capital side led 19-17. Once again, Sixth Man of the Year front-runner Kouat Noi made an immediate impact off the bench for the harbour city side but his late flurry, and a triple by Adams as time expired, wasn’t enough as the hosts led 29-28. 

Two driving lay-ups by Shaun Bruce got Sydney started in the second but Brisbane regained the lead thanks to a 10-6 run. The hosts' offensive rebounds were causing issues for Sydney but a timely and-one by Adams kept Sydney within striking distance at 43-39. Free-throws by the NBL22 MVP and a fast-break steal and lay-in by Toohey levelled proceedings at 43-all. But five quick ones from Prather put Brisbane back in front, which they held until half-time 48-45. 

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An Oliver levelled it up on the first possession of the second half before Adams nailed a jumper. The former then threw one down, off the dish from Cooks, which was followed by a lefty lay-in by Toohey. Despite the dominance by Brisbane on the glass, resulting in multiple attempts on the hoops resulting in points, the Kings stuck around with scores by Toohey and Cooks. A runaway slam by Toohey and jumper by Bul Kuol put Sydney in front 67-66. A driving hoop and harm by Cooks ensued, as did another Prather basket – which gave Justin Schueller’s side a 71-69 lead at the final change. 

A Noi triple and Cooks two gave the Kings an early three-point advantage. The former added another two buckets, which was complimented by free-throws by Cooks and Adams – giving the Kings an 82-79 lead 4.44 to play. A turning two by Oliver extended it to six, which grew to seven after a Cooks shot from the charity stripe. That quickly became three following scores by Mitch Norton and Josh Bannan. A clutch jump-shot by Oliver pushed it out to two-possessions but three free-throws by Cook closed it to 88-86 with 18.8 on the clock. Equally as cold, Toohey nailed two from the stripe, to put Brian Goorjian’s outfit up by four. Kuol iced the game with a free-throw, as the purple and gold won by five. 

Where the match was decided 

Despite losing the rebound count 54-37, Sydney secured the win thanks to superior statistics in field goal percentage (57-35), assists (18-15), steals (7-4), blocks (9-2) and points in the paint (56-32). 

Key moment 

The fourth-quarter Kings struck again on Saturday, winning the final period 22-15, to secure their second straight win and third over the Bullets this season.

Watch Alex Toohey and 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.

Players of the game 

The Kings had five players reach double-figures in scoring, including Adams (21), Cooks (19), Noi (15), Toohey (14) and Toohey (13). 

Of note, Adams also added eight dimes and six boards, Cooks had seven rebounds and five assists and Oliver pulled down nine rebounds. 

What’s next 

Goorjian’s team, who are now 13-9, now return to Qudos Bank Arena for a home game against Melbourne United on Thursday, January 9, with tickets still available here.