Kings smash Hawks to edge closer to Adrian Hurley Cup

The Sydney Kings returned the winner’s circle on Friday night by defeating the Illawarra Hawks 103-83 at the WIN Entertainment Centre. 

The 20-point Indigenous Round victory also saw the Hoops Capital club edge closer to retaining the Adrian Hurley Cup for the second straight season (by leading the NBL24 season 2-0). 

Match summary 

The Kings opened the Indigenous Round’s scoring with a Jordi Hunter dunk, which was quickly followed by an and-one buy the centre – helping the visitors race to an 8-2 lead. The hosts responded with nine of the next 11, to take the lead for the first time. Sydney regained the lead temporarily following a huge dunk by Jonah Bolden before scoring from both sides dried up towards the end of the term. A late three by Makuach Maluach ensured the Hoops Capital side led 20-17 at the first change. 

GRAB YOUR TICKETS TO THE KINGS' HOME MATCHES NOW

Five quick ones from Maluach helped the harbour city side’s lead grow to six but the Hawks responded, with a Justin Robinson putting them back up by one. Efforts by Maluach and Denzel Valentine saw the purple and gold poke their noses back in front. A Shaun Bruce triple made 37-29 midway through the period, which was consolidated by a tough and-one by Kouat Noi. The two NSW sides traded baskets for large parts of the quarter before scores by Alex Toohey, Hunter and Jaylen Adams moved Mahmoud Abdelfattah’s side up by double-digits – which is what they lead by (52-42) at half-time. 

A 10-3 start to the term by the Kings, fuelled by Valentine and DJ Hogg, stretched the lead to 17 in the early stages of the third. Toohey ‘s free-throws helped that move to 20, which moved to 25 thanks to tough team defence and exceptional ball-movement on offence (capping a 28-13 start to the period). At the final change, the Kings held a 24-point lead (84-60) behind shots from the charity stripe by Hogg. 

Scores by Hogg and Noi – on the back of crisp passing - kept the Kings’ scoring going in the fourth. A continued three-point barrage by the Kings, including hits by Adams, No and Bolden kept the Kings’ lead more than 20. Abdelfattah emptied the bench as time ticked down, as Sydney ran out winners by 20 points in the all-NSW derby. 

Where the match was decided 

The Kings secured the dominant win thanks to statistical victories in field goal percentage (48-40), three-point percentage (36-25), free-throw percentage (81-72), rebounds (50-40), assists (24-11) and bench points (45-23). 

Key moment 

The Kings’ fifth victory of NBL24 was set-up by a 28-13 start to the third quarter, sparked by strong play on both ends of the court. 

Player of the game 

The two top scorers on Friday were NBL22 MVP Adams and Maluach, who both finished with 16 points. 

The former also added seven assists, two rebounds and two steals, while the Armidale product shot 6/7 from the field while adding three boards and one steal. 

Other to score in double figures were Hogg (13 with two blocks), Hunter (11 with nine rebounds), Valentine (10 with six boards and three dimes) and Noi (10 with four rebounds). 

Watch Makuach Maluach and Mahmoud Abdelfattah break down the win in the post-game press conference via 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 

Abdelfattah’s side, who are now 5-3, now return home on Sunday, November 5 for their NBL24 Indigenous Round clash. 

The fixture, tipping off at 3.45pm AEDT at Qudos Bank Arena, is also a NBL23 grand final replay against New Zealand.