Undermanned Kings fall short to Adelaide in fightback

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media

Result: Adelaide 36ers 85 Sydney Kings 80

Stats that matter: Kings 21 assists; Rebound count 36ers 45 Kings 38; 36ers 50 points in the paint; Kings 15 points from turnovers

Kings MVP: Dejan Vasiljevic had a career night and kept the Kings alive offensively for large stretches.

Turning Point: Adelaide ran off the first six points of the final quarter to extend their lead to a game-high 17, and it was too much for Sydney to overcome.

The game was over when: Adelaide’s Isaac Humphries dunked with 14 seconds left.

Trending in the right direction: Brad Newley got the start and again scored in double figures.

A tremendous fourth quarter comeback has fallen just short for the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings on Saturday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, with the hometown 36ers made to fight all the way to secure an 85-80 victory.

Decimated by injury and trailing by 16 points with eight minutes left, the purple and gold once again showed the heart that has characterised their early season with a massive fightback, as they outscored Adelaide 15-2 over the next two minutes to make the 7,000 fans in attendance very nervous.

Casper Ware (15 points, six assists, two steals) and Shaun Bruce (five points) nailed consecutive triples to kickstart the run, Ware had a steal and layup followed by a deuce to Brad Newley (11 points, three rebounds), and out of nowhere the Kings were down just five, 70-65.

Isaac Humphries (27 points, nine rebounds), who was a problem for Sydney all night, stopped the run with a bucket, and he was immense in the final quarter for the home team as they prevailed down the stretch.

However, the Kings never stopped playing hard right to the final buzzer, playing intense full court defence that gave Adelaide many headaches and forced them to cough up the ball on multiple occasions. In the end, fatigue and the 36ers’ size advantage proved too much to overcome, but there were many positives to take away for Sydney, despite the hard-fought loss.

“The great thing about this group is that we don’t need to motivate them externally with anything,” Head Coach Adam Forde said.

“They are professionals and they know what needs to be done.”

“We’ve had a couple of close games now so we’ve dug ourselves a bit of a hole, but to walk away from making it a two-possession game again is testament to their character.”

“You can only play the hand you’re dealt; it’s only going to test the resilience of this group, and we’re going to come out better for it. Knowing that we have that fight and spirit, and then you add in the guys that are missing – there’s a lot to work with and a lot to be proud of.”

One of those players that all Sydney fans should be enormously proud of is Dejan Vasiljevic (career-high 28 points, three rebounds, four assists), who lit up the stadium with a brilliant first half performance, when he had 12 points in the opening quarter and produced 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting by the main break.

Sydney led 24-22 after one thanks in large part to his offensive production, and only trailed by seven at halftime despite scoring just 12 points in the second quarter, closing the period on a 7-2 run that included a nifty assist from Vasiljevic to Jarell Martin (13 points, eight rebounds, two steals).

Dejan remained a force throughout the night, hitting three triples, and although he cooled off from the perimeter in the second half, he found other ways to score and contributed across the board for Sydney.

“At one point in the first half, Dejan was doing the bulk of the scoring for us,” Coach Forde said.

“He’s an impressive young man, he’s extremely coachable, and he’s been working hard on the defensive side of things.”

“DJ has been great for us, not just how he has been on the court, but as a teammate.”

Ultimately, what doomed the Kings was their offensive lull over the second and third quarters, where they could muster just 27 points over that 20-minute span, and they trailed 62-51 with a quarter to play despite Vasiljevic’s eight points in the third period.

And with four regular players – Daniel Kickert, Angus Glover, Didi Louzada and Xavier Cooks – all unavailable through injury, Coach Forde was forced to go deep into his bench, with development players Jaylin Galloway and Archie Woodhill seeing their first NBL action.

“I thought Jaylin probably gave us a little bit of our defensive spark,” Coach Forde said.

“He was getting over screens and he battled, same with Archie.”

“I spoke to those guys the night before and told them to mentally prepare themselves for it, because we are down players at the moment and it was the perfect time to inject them into the line-up.”

“I thought they held their own and I was happy with their effort.”

Indeed, effort was something you could never accuse this Kings group of lacking. Despite having problems dealing with offensive force Daniel Johnson (16 points) for much of the night, especially in the early stages of the final quarter, Sydney’s effort never waned.

Their terrific run midway through the final quarter spoke volumes of the team’ commitment to the cause under enormous adversity, and while that didn’t translate to a victory, there was still a lot to be proud of as a Kings’ fan in Adelaide.

This is a long season, there are plenty of games left, and a lot of talent to come back into the squad. These are tough times for sure at the moment, but this group have already showed they are up for the fight.

The Kings will remain in South Australia for the next week as they face a return battle with the 36ers in Adelaide next Saturday night.

Rise With Us Sydney.

ADELAIDE 36ERS 85 (Humphries 27, Johnson 16, Dech 13, Crocker 13)
SYDNEY KINGS 80 (Vasiljevic 28, Ware 15, Martin 13) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

BOXSCORE