Magnificent fourth quarter comeback gives Kings win over Tasmania

By Matt McQuade

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 83 Tasmania JackJumpers 71

Stats that matter: Kings 48.5% FG; Kings 10 three pointers; Kings 40 points in the paint; Rebound count Kings 43 JackJumpers 37

Kings MVP: Jarell Martin. Did it all at both ends of the floor.

Turning Point: An 8-2 Kings run to start the fourth period.

The game was over when: Xavier Cooks splashed a triple with 18 seconds left to set off wild celebrations at Qudos Bank Arena.

Trending in the right direction: His contributions sometimes go unnoticed, but Wani Swaka Lo Buluk was huge for the Kings tonight.

A sensational fourth quarter comeback has propelled the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings to an 83-71 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers in front of 4,612 fans on Wednesday night at Qudos Bank Arena.

Once again down two imports with both Jaylen Adams and R.J. Hunter absent through injury, Sydney trailed by as much as 13 points with a little over four minutes remaining in the third period and were down 63-54 at the end of the quarter as Tasmania looked likely to cause one of the upsets of the early season.

Unable to deal with Tasmanian reserves Clint Steindl (15 points, two rebounds) and MiKyle McIntosh (11 points, two rebounds) and struggling to get anything going offensively despite the best efforts of energiser bunny Biwali Bayles (12 points, six rebounds), things looked grim for the home team.

But as is quickly becoming obvious, this Kings unit has plenty of heart, character and resiliency, and once they forced their way back in the contest, they were simply an unstoppable tidal wave in the final five minutes as they climbed to fifth on the NBL ladder with a 3-2 record.

“We were struggling for answers a little bit, especially offensively,” Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Chase Buford said afterwards.

“We couldn’t find a way to get the ball to the roller and play behind their coverages. I thought it was there but we couldn’t find a way to get it to them.”

“But we kept plugging away, tried some new things; some sets in the fourth that we felt like could get us some better looks.”

“The guys made some terrific individual plays of their own, but I thought we got back to guarding; for most of the second half, but really the fourth quarter. We did a really good job guarding their actions, and that allowed us to play in transition and get some easier looks.”

Remarkably, the purple and gold outscored the JackJumpers 29-8 in the final ten minutes and closed the game with ten straight points after leading 73-71 with a little over two minutes remaining.

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The final run started with a nerveless corner triple from Angus Glover (six points, four rebounds, five assists), followed by a spectacular tomahawk jam from Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (four points, three rebounds), whose fourth quarter defence on the Tasmania import guards was stellar and a key to Sydney’s remarkable fightback.

“Wani’s impact on the game isn’t summed up often by points,” Coach Buford said.

“When you look at our numbers as a team, we’re terrific when he’s on the floor, because of the way he guards, the way he moves the ball, makes simple plays and does all the right things for the team.”

“Their two imports, (Josh) Magette and (Josh) Adams, are terrific players. The way our guards defended them – ‘Swak’ was a big part of that. Those two were 9 of 28 shooting and it was a really good job from our guards defensively.”

After Wani’s thunderous dunk, a throwdown that blew the roof off the Q, Xavier Cooks (12 points, four rebounds) made the JackJumpers pay for disrespecting his perimeter jumper with a huge three point make, and Sydney then ended proceedings with a couple of free throws.

“I was proud of the fightback and the guts of the team to stay together when it wasn’t going our way,” Coach Buford said.

“It’s been a staple of our group so far this season. We’ve had a bunch of guys missing but we didn’t want to make excuses on any of those.”

“I told the guys to go out there and find a way. Obviously, we’ve had some ups and downs, but for the most part, the way our group competes, especially on the defensive end, I love to see, and the way we stuck together has been impressive for the last week.”

In truth, Sydney probably doesn’t win that ballgame without the tremendous input of import big man Jarell Martin (24 points, 11 rebounds), who was a force of nature for the Kings all night. From working his butt off defensively to his hyper-aggression at the offensive end of the floor, highlighted by a pair of monster jams, Martin was the difference in the end.

“Jarell was terrific,” Coach Buford affirmed.

“I told Jarell earlier today, “Man, we need you to be aggressive. Go look to make things happen.””

“I think almost every big guy who guards him in this league is a mismatch for Jarell. He’s quicker and stronger than a lot of them, and he can really do some things.”

“He’ll be the first to tell you he can play better and shoot it better, but that aggressiveness from him we need more often.”

Sydney shot the ball at 44% through three quarters, but a 10/16 fourth period took their final mark to 48.5% from the field. They had 10 triples at a 36% return, and were 9 of 12 from the free throw line.

In comparison, Tasmania shot just two of 15 in the final ten minutes, including zero from nine from long distance, to finish at 38.6% from the field. The JackJumpers were 8 of 29 from beyond the three point line and missed a whopping eight free throws in their fourth straight defeat.

Sydney runs their record in opening games against debut NBL franchises to 10-4, with the sole loss since 1999 to new teams on debut coming at the hands of Melbourne United in the 2014/2015 season.

Speaking of United – revenge will be the theme of Sydney’s only game in Round Four, with the purple and gold doing battle with a Melbourne crew on Boxing Day (Sunday 26 December) that inflicted one of the worst defeats in Sydney Kings’ franchise history the last time these two teams met. Tickets for the Sydney-Melbourne blockbuster are available via Ticketek.

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BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 83 (Martin 24, Cooks 12, Bayles 12)
TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 71 (Steindl 15, Magette 13, McIntosh 11) at Qudos Bank Arena

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