Shorthanded Kings fall to United at Qudos Bank Arena

By Matt McQuade

Result: Melbourne United 82 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 68

Stats that matter: Kings 30.4% FG; Rebound count United 55 Kings 46; United 11 blocked shots; United nine steals

Kings MVP: Jarell Martin was a workhorse for the purple and gold.

Turning Point: A 13-0 Melbourne run early in the second quarter shifted the momentum.

The game was over when: Jo Lual-Acuil made a turnaround jumper with less than two minutes remaining.

Trending in the right direction: As undermanned and undersized as they were, the Kings grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and gave themselves plenty of second chances.

A gutsy performance from a severely undermanned Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings wasn’t enough to overcome Melbourne United at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon, with the defending NBL champions getting an 82-68 victory.

Sydney came in without four key players including two imports and lost Biwali Bayles early in the fourth quarter with an apparent ankle injury. The lack of healthy bodies told in the end, with the purple and gold restricted to just 28 points in the second half in a loss that drops them to 3-3 on the season.

Not that Head Coach Chase Buford was interested in any excuses after the tough loss.

“I don’t know if it was lack of bodies – I think we were ready and had enough energy to play this game,” Coach Buford said.

“Credit to Melbourne, they came out and were really physical, they pushed us off our spots a little bit and we had some empty possessions in the second half, especially in the start of the fourth quarter and late in the third.”

“We were trying to make runs, but couldn’t find great quality shots at the end of the day.”

“That starts with me. I’ve got to be better at getting us into better looks.”

Melbourne won for the first time in eight attempts at the Q, but they were made to work hard by a Kings’ unit that shot the ball at 56% from the field in the opening quarter in taking a 26-24 lead after the first break.

Led by Xavier Cooks (12 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots) and Jarell Martin (19 points, seven rebounds), with a cameo from Matur Maker (five points), the home team pushed out to a seven-point advantage early in the second period and had all the momentum in what was a free-flowing game to that point.

But as he invariably does, Chris Goulding (20 points, six rebounds, two steals) happened.

The Australian Olympian was scoreless in the opening frame but lit up the Kings with 13 points in the second quarter, including a run of three straight triples and a tough contested jumper that fuelled a game-changing 13-0 Melbourne spurt that gave them a 40-34 advantage.

Back-to-back threes from Martin and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (10 points, two assists) stemmed the tide, but a dunk from Melbourne centre Jo Lual-Acuil (12 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots) gave United a 44-40 lead at intermission.

At that stage, it was anyone’s game, but Melbourne held sway despite the Kings showing plenty of fight.

After the brilliant Caleb Agada (24 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four steals, four blocked shots) took the visitors out to a six-point lead to start the third quarter, Martin had seven points of his own to keep Sydney close.

But the third period belonged to Agada, who had 11 points in the quarter and answered every Sydney charge with a key steal or bucket, staking his team to a 66-59 lead with ten minutes remaining.

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Melbourne had wrested control of the game from the Kings, who still showed admirable fortitude to hang in there, but scoring became a problem with the purple and gold who were unable to put any points on the board for the first three minutes of the final quarter.

A free throw from Martin and a three-point play from Shaun Bruce (four points, three rebounds) gave the 4,725 fans some hope that the Kings could stage a recovery, but with Melbourne’s seven footers Lual-Acuil and Ariel Hukporti (five points, ten rebounds) being super-physical and dominating the airspace defensively, the Kings struggled to get any clean looks late.

In the end, Sydney was restricted to just nine points in the final period and didn’t have a single field goal in the last three minutes as United ground them down to win their third consecutive game.

The Kings shot the ball at just 30% from the field, were 11 of 32 from three-point range and 9 of 12 from the foul line. For their part, Melbourne went 41% from the field, 30.8% from beyond the arc and were just 8 of 14 from the charity stripe. Importantly, United outrebounded Sydney 55-46 and forced 12 Sydney turnovers.

The recent changes to the NBL schedule thanks to a Covid outbreak among members of the Brisbane Bullets and Illawarra Hawks mean that Sydney now has a 13-day break until they play their next game, and for Chase Buford, the long breather comes at a good time for his wounded squad.

“I think we need it,” Coach Buford said.

“It’s no secret that we’re banged up, and getting Jaylen (Adams) back is going to help our group and our offence immensely.”

“Obviously losing Biwali tonight was tough and hopefully he’ll be back and healthy soon.”

“But I think the primary focus will be getting everyone back healthy. We’ll get guys feeling good again and hopefully get everyone topped up and ready to go play in Tassie.”

As Coach Buford mentioned, Sydney’s next assignment will be their first trip to Hobart in more than 25 years as they take on the Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena on January 8.

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MELBOURNE UNITED 82 (Agada 24, Goulding 20, Lual-Acuil 12)
BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 68 (Martin 19, Cooks 12, Swaka Lo Buluk 10) at Qudos Bank Arena.

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