Kings prioritise play offs health during final round

Tactics have been put in place by the Sydney Kings to enter finals as healthy as they can be, with MVP finalist Xavier Cooks rested in Friday night’s game against the Adelaide 36ers.

The Kings lost 115-108 to the eighth-placed 36ers, but Sydney coach Chase Buford confirmed his main takeaway from this weekend is health.

“Coming out of this weekend with health as a priority,” Buford said.

“Winning games is great but we need to be healthy and ready for round one of playoffs.

"That’s the biggest priority for us coming out of this weekend for sure.”

Sydney has locked up top spot and home court advantage throughout the Finals. They end the regular season on Sunday against the Perth Wildcats, giving Buford another chance to potentially manage the workload of his stars.

When asked why Cooks was out, Buford reiterated the need for the Kings to rest before attempting to claim the championship for the second year in a row.

“The plan was always for (Dejan Vasiljevic) to not play so much tonight, go out to get one more stint in the third. Rest up and get ready for finals,” he said.

In his 23 minutes, Vasiljevic put down 18 points and four rebounds.

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The Andrew Gaze MVP Awards night is right around the corner and a debate was sparked this week when Kings defensive gun Justin Simon wasn’t named a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.

When asked about his potential snub, Simon emphasised he was unphased by the news, declaring his attention is solely on the championship.

“That’s just who I am, I’m always going to defend, make plays on the ball,” Simon said.

“I’m not here to prove anything to anybody, that’s not what I came to Sydney for.

“I’ve won that award already, I’m trying to win a championship.”

The Kings are straight onto preparing for their last regular season game before going all guns blazing for finals. They play Perth Wildcats on Sunday at 4pm AEDT.