The NBL23 regular season is in the books and all the competition's award winners, including Kings' Xavier Cooks taking out the MVP, have been acknowledged for their fantastic campaigns through all 18 rounds.

So now is a chance for us to look back and highlight which Sydney players excelled in each of the major individual metrics, ahead of the tip-off of the Kings' post-season on Wednesday, February 15 at Qudos Bank Arena.

Points per game - the top five:

Derrick Walton Jr: 16.3 points
Xavier Cooks: 16.2 points
Dejan Vasiljevic: 14.6 points
Tim Soares: 10.5 points
Justin Simon: 10.3 points

Import point guard Walton Jr pips fellow All-NBL First Team compatriot Cooks for the Kings' NBL23 scoring crown, thanks largely to his 45-point explosion against South East Melbourne on December 18 - which was one of seven games where he scored more than 20 points.

Comparatively, the super-consistent Cooks had double-figure scoring in 22 of his 26 appearances for the Hoosp Capital outfit in 2022-23, including a season-high 25 against Cairns on November 28.

Sharpshooter Vasiljevic comes in at third, on the back of his 42 points (including 10 triples) against the Phoneix on January 4, while Soares and Simon's season-high totals were 24 (against Adelaide on February 5) and 23 (against Brisbane on October 16).

Assists per game - the top five:

Derrick Walton Jr: 6.3 assists
Xavier Cooks: 4.2 assists
Shaun Bruce: 2.3 assists
Dejan Vasiljevic: 1.7 assists
Justin Simon: 1.4 assists

This is the second straight statistical category Michigan product Walton Jr has topped, averaging 6.3 dimes per contest - which sees him finish equal third in the whole NBL.

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On three occasions, the 28-year-old registered double-digit dimes, including a Kings' record in the 40-minute era of 13 against Adelaide in the final round.

Cooks finished second among the harbour city side, emphasising how well-rounded his game was in NBL23, which included his first-ever triple-double against South East Melbourne in the final home at Qudos Bank Arena.

Rounding out the top five are Bruce, Vasiljevic and Simon - with the former tallying a season-high seven assists in the season finale against Perth.

Rebounds per game - the top five:

Xavier Cooks: 7.8 rebounds per game
Tim Soares: 5.1 rebounds per game
Justin Simon: 4.6 rebounds per game
Dejan Vasiljevic: 4.6 rebounds per game
Derrick Walton Jr: 3.9 rebounds per game

Cooks' 7.8 boards per contest were enough to see him finish fifth league-wide, with the four players finishing above him in the standings (Phoenix's Alan Williams (9.6),  Taipans' Keanu Pinder (9.3), Hawks' Sam Froling (8) and Breakers' Dererk Pardon (8)) all spending the majority of their time on the court at centre.

The 27-year-old Cooks had nine games with 10 or more rebounds, with his season-high (12) coming against Cairns on October 12.

While the season-high marks for the other four top finishers respectively were 10 (Soares vs United on October 9), nine (Simon vs Phoenix on December 18), seven (Vasiljevic on four occasions) and nine (Walton Jr vs Cairns on October 14).

Blocks per game - the top five:

Tim Soares: 0.9 blocks per game
Xavier Cooks: 0.6 blocks per game
Jordi Hunter: 0.6 blocks per game
Ignatius Mitchell: 0.3 blocks per game
Jaylin Galloway/Justin Simon: 0.3 blocks per game

Brazilian international Soares led the way for the Kings in the blocks department, registering close to one per contest - highlighted by a season-high four swats against Cairns on October 14.

Cooks and Hunter were the next best, with their respective best of three and four coming against Perth (January 7) and Melbourne (October 23).

Rounding out the top blockers were wings Mitchell, Galloway and Simon, who all proved to be defensive menaces whenever they were on the court.

Steals per game - the top five:

Justin Simon: 1.5 steals per game
Tim Soares: 0.8 steals per game
Jaylin Galloway: 0.8 steals per game
Derrick Walton Jr: 0.7 steals per game
Xavier Cooks/Angus Glover: 0.5 steals per game

The standout for the harbour city side in the steals department is perennial defensive player of the year contender Simon, who had one and a half swipes per contest.

His best return of four happened on three occasions, including against Illawarra (October 1), New Zealand (November 6) and Adelaide (December 4).

Coming in second to the St. Johns alum is Soares, who had a season-high three swipes against Cairns (October 14) and Adelaide (December 4), and Australian Boomer Galloway, whose best effort in NBL23 came against the Breakers on January 22.

Finally, Walton Jr, Cooks and Glover all tallied season-bests of two, but produced it on five times, twice and twice respectively.

Tickets to game one of the Kings' semi-final series on Wednesday, February 15 at Qudos Bank Arena are officially on sale here.