Poor fourth quarter sees JackJumpers march over Kings

The Sydney Kings recorded their fourth loss on Sunday, going down 84-76 to the Tasmania JackJumpers at Qudos Bank Arena. 

The clash also saw the Kings celebrate the NBL’s 2022-23 Indigenous Round by wearing uniforms specially designed by Stewart James. 

Match summary 

The JackJumpers started the grand final replay the stronger, scoring seven of the first 11 points. That trend didn’t last long, with point guard Derrick Walton Jr starting to cook – scoring or assisting on four straight Kings’ field goals. Despite a late bucket by Dejan Vasiljevic, the Ants led at the end of one 23-21. 

The JJs’ lead grew to five early in the second before back-to-back consecutive jams by Justin Simon and Jordi Hunter powered the Kings back into the contest – before the Hoops Capital side took the lead on Walton’s free throws. As the clock wound down on the low-scoring period (in which the Kings hit zero triples and the Ants converted six), the pair two traded baskets – as the score-line was all tied up (39-all) at the main break. 

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Sydney’s drought from downtown ended at the hands of Tim Soares, sparking the hosts to open the term on a 15-7. But offensive boards and continued bombs from deep helped the JJs drag themselves back to within two midway through the quarter. That lead quickly ballooned back out to double digits after four straight dimes by Xavier Cooks – with Kouat Noi and Vasiljevic scoring two buckets each off his slick passing – as Sydney led 70-58 going into the fourth. 

Tasmania wasn’t done yet though, opening the term on an 11-2 run to close within five with 4.51 to play – as Sydney went scoreless for close to five minutes. That lead dwindled to two following a Jack McVeigh triple before Doyle made it 74-all with 2.52 on the clock. Back-to-back triples by those two Tasmanians, combined with Sydney only hitting three field goals from 15 attempts for the period, saw the visitors secure the eight-point win. 

Where the match was decided 

Apart from a dominant fourth-quarter display, the JJs also edged the Kings in the statical categories of assists (15-13), steals (9-4), turnovers (9-17), second-chance points (11-4), points off turnovers (19-9) and bench points (26-12) in the round 12 victory. 

Key moment 

A 26-6 final term, where the Kings shot just 3/15 from the field, proved to be what lost them their fourth loss of NBL23. 

Player of the game 

In a losing effort, Walton was fantastic for the Kings, producing 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. 

While Tasmania’s Milton Doyle (25 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal) took out the annual Claude Williams MVP trophy. 

What’s next 

The harbour city side, who remain in first place despite dropping to 10-4 on the season, next hit the road for a round 11 double-header. 

They firstly travel down the freeway to Wollongong to take on Illawarra in game three of the Adrian Hurley Cup series on Friday night from 7.30pm AEDT before heading to Victoria to battle South East Melbourne at Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium from 2pm AEDT on Sunday. 

Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel, with the latter also on 10 Peach.