Kings win 11th straight with victory in Adelaide

By Matt McQuade

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 84 Adelaide 36ers 77

Stats that matter: Kings 47% FG; Kings 19 assists; Kings 42 points in the paint; Kings 20 bench points

Kings MVP: Xavier Cooks. Did some serious work at both ends of the court.

Turning Point: A 16-3 third quarter run broke the game open for the Kings.

The game was over when: A triple from Jaylen Adams late in the fourth put the game out of reach for the 36ers.

Trending in the right direction: Angus Glover just continues to make play after play for his ballclub.

They can’t all be pretty.

It was a grind, there were some mistakes, but ultimately the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings prevailed on Saturday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, recording their 11^th consecutive victory with an 84-77 decision over a game 36ers outfit.

In a matchup that was perhaps closer than expected, Sydney’s defence, particularly in the third quarter, proved the difference, as the team held Adelaide to just 4 of 22 from the field in the frame and only one field goal in the final six minutes.

Despite uncharacteristically missing some easy lay-ups and open looks and with Jaylen Adams (12 points, five assists) limited with early foul trouble and not quite at his dominant best, not to mention the absence of Ian Clark through injury, the Kings still did enough to continue a winning streak that is now the outright second-best in a single season and outright third-best overall in franchise history.

“I guess for positives I thought for just about three quarters we guarded them pretty well,” Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Chase Buford said.

“Especially in the third, it was pretty good.

“They got a little hot to start the game, but I think after the first five minutes of the game that we locked in and started playing some good defence.

“I’m not very proud of the way we finished the game. We didn’t treat it with enough respect or play the game the right way down the stretch. We just kind of lost our composure, lost our edge, and obviously let them back in it.”

Coach Buford is referring to a final quarter where his team started 1 of 8 from the field and struggled early offensively as Adelaide made a run to slice a 13-point Sydney lead to six points midway through the period.

But Xavier Cooks (22 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three blocked shots) and Jarell Martin (13 points, six rebounds) keyed a 9-2 run that all but put the game out of reach, and when Adams drained a triple and Cooks scored off an offensive rebound, Sydney led by a game-high 15 points with two minutes remaining and the result was secured.

Nonetheless, Coach Buford’s obvious frustration was with the fact his group allowed the 36ers to close the game with the final eight points – at this stage of the regular season the Kings’ mentor has high standards for his unit and allowing a beaten team to make the score respectable was not what he was looking for.

“If we are who we say we want to be, that’s not good enough,” Coach Buford admitted.

Still, there was a lot of good to take away from this performance, particularly the work of Cooks, who is playing at an All-NBL level and was a two-way monster yet again.

X scored inside, he scored outside, he grabbed big rebounds and he controlled the airspace defensively with his three rejections.

And the bench also stepped up for the purple and gold in a major way. Angus Glover (eight points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots) was brilliant, making big shots and big plays when his team needed them the most.

Biwali Bayles (three points, three assists) brought his trademark extreme energy and filled in admirably at the point when Jaylen Adams had to sit for an extended period.

Tom Vodanovich continues to impress with his hustle and intensity.

And Makur Maker (nine points, eight rebounds) was tough on the glass and would have excited more than a couple of NBA scouts with his size and obvious talent.

Sydney led at every change, including a first quarter when the 36ers controlled the tempo, hit some shots – primarily thanks to Daniel Johnson (20 points, seven rebounds, four assists) – and grabbed the lead on four occasions.

But sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic (15 points, three rebounds) nailed a triple after some outstanding ball movement to give the Kings a 19-18 advantage at the end of the period, and Sydney was never headed after that, although the 36ers did tie the game briefly midway through the second quarter.

A six-point halftime lead turned into a 13-point advantage with a quarter remaining as the Kings closed the third on a 16-5 run, getting untracked offensively thanks mainly to a steady diet of defensive stops in the final six minutes.

To be truthful, the result was never in serious doubt in the fourth – every time Adelaide threatened to make a charge, the Kings had an answer.

And while the last two minutes of the game weren’t ideal, they did allow Coach Buford to rest his frontline players, which will be important given the tough stretch of games immediately ahead.

Sydney shot the ball at 47% from the field, were 9 of 29 from three-point range and just 11 of 18 from the free throw line in what also represents their seventh straight win on the road, a streak that equals the third-best ever for the Kings.

The team held Adelaide to 35% shooting from the field and 26% from three-point range, had 42 points in the paint and got 20 points from a reserve group who were, to a man, terrific on a night when Adelaide did their best to junk things up and turn the game into a slowdown, halfcourt contest.

Sydney’s road trip double in Round 19 concludes on Tuesday April 12, when the purple and gold will play the New Zealand Breakers at Bendigo Basketball Stadium at 7:30pm AEST.

#WE ARE KINGS

BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Cooks 22, Vasiljevic 15, Martin 13)
ADELAIDE 36ERS 77 (Johnson 20, Withers 10, Harris 10) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

BOXSCORE