Kings obliterate Wildcats at RAC Arena

By Matt McQuade

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 102 Perth Wildcats 80

Stats that matter: Kings 54% FG; Kings 15 three pointers; Kings 50% 3PT FG; Kings 44 points in the paint; Kings 19 assists

Kings MVP: On a night when there were plenty of heroes wearing purple and gold, Jaylen Adams vaulted himself into outright favouritism for the NBL MVP award at the end of the season.

Turning Point: A first quarter 17-2 run put the Kings firmly in control.

The game was over when: Realistically after the end of the first period. But let’s say when Jarell Martin and Ian Clark nailed a triple each in the third period to bury a brief Wildcat surge.

Trending in the right direction: What’s scary for the rest of the league is we still haven’t seen what Ian Clark is truly capable of.

 

Statement. Made.

Now that’s what you call complete and utter domination.

A devastating first half has propelled the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings to a 102-80 annihilation of the Perth Wildcats on Saturday night at RAC Arena, Sydney’s ninth consecutive victory.

In scenes reminiscent of the Kings’ incredible first half at Challenge Stadium in Game Two of the 2003 Grand Final series, when Sydney led Perth by 28 at intermission enroute to their first ever NBL crown, the purple and gold once again unleashed hell on the Red Army in a win that takes them to second place on the ladder with a 14-7 record.

The first quarter set the tone for a stunning blowout in a game where Sydney never trailed.

After a tight opening four minutes, Jaylen Adams (20 points, five rebounds, eight assists) and Dejan Vasiljevic (16 points, five rebounds) keyed a 17-2 run that completely silenced the normally rabid Wildcat fans and helped the Kings grab a remarkable 35-14 lead after one – the 21 point lead the biggest ever by any opposing team at RAC Arena.

Both Dejan and Jaylen had 10 points apiece in the opening stanza and Sydney shot the ball at 67% from the field, knocking down six three-point bombs in what amounted to nothing less than an offensive avalanche, but the Kings were far from done.

The second quarter was more of the same.

And this time, it was down to impressive big man Makur Maker (15 points, ten rebounds, two blocked shots) and the returning Xavier Cooks (eight points, four rebounds in limited minutes). Makur showcased his immense potential with eight points and X had six of his own in the period as the Kings pounded the Wildcat interior at will.

Maker capped an amazing first half performance by his ballclub with a savage two-hand jam at the buzzer, and the Kings led 64-39 – their second biggest halftime lead ever in Perth and the Wildcats’ biggest ever halftime deficit in 158 games played at RAC Arena.

Sydney blistered the nets at 64% through two quarters and were nine of 15 from long distance at that stage, but it was their defensive effort that was so eye-popping, as they outrebounded the ’Cats 26-16 and held the NBL’s highest scoring unit to just three assists and a miserable 30% from the field.

Indeed, it was the Kings’ defence throughout the ballgame that really impressed Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Chase Buford, who equalled the all-time franchise record for consecutive wins by a first-year Kings’ head coach, set by Alan Black in 1996.

“We made some shots, but it wasn’t our offence that impressed me at all; it was our defence, right from the get-go,” Coach Buford said.

“We had a good game plan to come in and try to limit Bryce Cotton a little. We saw what he did to us last time and we didn’t want to let him get going.

“We tried to contain him as best we could even though we fouled him too much.

“But I was really pleased with our defensive effort overall. Obviously, they got on the line too much and we’ve got to do a better job cleaning that up. But I’m really proud of our defensive effort. To hold them to 80 – we’re proud.”

The third quarter began with threes to Vasiljevic and Adams, and at that stage the Kings’ largest win ever over the Wildcats – 33 points twice, both at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in the 2003/2004 and 2005/2006 seasons – was under threat.

But thanks to Cotton (20 points, three rebounds, three assists) – who was otherwise comprehensively outplayed by Jaylen Adams – and rising star Luke Travers (20 points, eight rebounds), the home team ripped off a 15-2 run midway through the period to temporarily give the 6,906 in attendance hope that their beloved team could somehow conjure up an unlikely comeback.

Not that Coach Buford was overly concerned.

“You know, we had a cushion, so I trusted the guys and we’ve got great players,” Coach Buford said.

“I knew we were going to keep getting good stops. They made a couple of threes, we got a couple of bad bounces, but a lot of it was due to our fouls.

“Most importantly, we weren’t getting rebounds. We gave them second chance opportunities in that run, and once we shored that up a little bit, we were able to shut it off again.”

The 15-2 surge was the Wildcats’ only real resistance all night, and Perth’s run was put to a stop immediately after a Buford timeout thanks to triples from Jarell Martin (16 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots) and the superb Ian Clark (NBL career-high 19 points, four rebounds).

Although Travers continued to heat up the scoreboard and Perth veteran Jesse Wagstaff (eight points) nailed a triple for the Wildcats in the final minute, the Kings maintained a comfortable 84-65 advantage with ten minutes remaining.

And any thoughts of a famous Perth revival were immediately quashed by a 6-0 Sydney run to start the final quarter, started by a great offensive rebound and stick-back from the ever-reliable Angus Glover (six points, six rebounds) and capped by a pair of buckets to the imperious Adams, who takes the lead as favourite for NBL MVP after a brilliant performance of controlled dominance.

Martin nailed a couple of triples to help blow the margin out to as much as 27 points, and Coach Buford was able to get his bench, including development player Ignatius Mitchell, some burn in the final minutes as Sydney cruised to their best win of the season.

And it was a win that was historic in so many ways.

Consider the following:

Sydney’s ninth straight victory equals their third-largest winning streak in franchise history.

Sydney’s fifth straight road victory is the outright fourth-best road winning streak in franchise history.

Sydney’s 22-point winning margin is their second-largest ever against the Wildcats in Perth.

Sydney’s 102 points are the most ever scored by the Kings against the Wildcats in a 40-minute NBL game.

Sydney’s 64 points in the first half was their second-most ever in a 40-minute NBL game.

Sydney’s 64 points in the first half were the most by any opposing team ever at RAC Arena.

Sydney’s 22-point margin of victory is the second-largest ever by any opposing team at RAC Arena.

It was just a phenomenal effort by the entire roster and coaching staff as they won at RAC Arena for only the fourth time in 20 games there.

After their first half pyrotechnics, the Kings shot the ball at a solid 54% from the field for the game. They were a nuclear-hot 15 of 30 from three-point range, but just 9 of 18 from the free throw line. However, they monstered the Wildcats on the glass, winning the rebounding count 50-40, and had 44 points in the paint.

Looking for an amazing ten consecutive wins in Round 18, Sydney remains on the road with a crucial matchup upcoming. The Kings head to MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on Sunday 3 April to take on the feisty Tasmania JackJumpers, with tipoff scheduled for 1:00pm AEST.

WE ARE KINGS

 

BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 102 (Adams 20, Clark 19, Vasiljevic 16, Martin 16)
PERTH WILDCATS 80 (Cotton 20, Travers 20, Law 16) at RAC Arena, Perth.

BOXSCORE