Wildcats put an end to Kings winning streak

Result: Perth Wildcats 89 Sydney Kings 65

Stats That Matter: Rebound count Wildcats 51 Kings 32; Wildcats 19 offensive rebounds; Wildcats 16 second chance points; Wildcats 20/22 FT (90%)

Kings MVP: Jarell Martin was effective offensively in a well-beaten side.

Turning Point: A 17-2 run to close the third quarter gave the Wildcats a double-figure lead.

The game was over when: A 13-0 run early in the fourth ended the game as a contest.

Trending in the right direction: Craig Moller was a rare bright spot with his energy and hustle

The Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings suffered a setback on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena, going down 89-65 to the league-leading Perth Wildcats.

After the Kings went toe-to-toe with the Wildcats in the first half and trailed the visitors by just two points at intermission, 46-44, Perth’s trademark stifling defence did a number on the purple and gold, restricting them to just 21 points in the second half.

Sydney actually took a 51-48 lead early in the third quarter thanks to a three pointer from Jarell Martin (18 points, three rebounds) and a strong drive to the rack from Casper Ware (six points, six assists).

But then Bryce Cotton (29 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals) happened. The Wildcat superstar buried three consecutive triples to kick off a game-changing 17-2 run from Perth, as they held the Kings to just one field goal in the final six minutes of the third to take a 65-53 lead with a quarter remaining.

And the two-time defending NBL champions weren’t interested in letting Sydney off the hook, ramping up their suffocating D and denying the Kings at every turn. After Martin began the final period with a pair of free throws, the Wildcats put the game to bed with 13 consecutive points over a four-minute span, and cruised from there.

A huge key in the result was Perth’s dominance of the glass, particularly offensively. The Wildcats outrebounded Sydney 51-32 and grabbed a whopping 19 offensive rebounds on the night, an area that Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Adam Forde pointed to as a big reason why his side suffered their fourth straight home defeat to Perth.

“The reality of it when you play a Perth team, is they are going to rebound,” Coach Forde said.

“We gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first quarter. We did a better job in the second, and we sustained it for the most part until halfway through the third, and then we ceased our scoring.”

“It goes hand in hand. If we don’t get that rebound, it denies us that transition.”

“One of the things that Perth likes to do is make you a half court team, and to their credit, that’s exactly what they did. Our offence dried up because we’re trying to get the ball in the post, but it’s congested. We’re trying to get DJ and Casper looks off on-balls, but it’s congested.”

“If we can get into the open court and move the ball and flow into our offence, we look a thousand times better and we did that for maybe 22 minutes of the game. But that starts by getting those rebounds. If we don’t get those rebounds, we aren’t going to win games.”

Perth shot the ball at just 38% from the field and were nine of 34 from three-point range, but as Coach Forde pointed out, a lot of those shots were uncontested and he was unhappy with his team’s overall effort at the defensive end of the floor.

“I mentioned in one of the timeouts in the first quarter that we had definitely gotten lucky, with some of the rebounds they got and they kick it back out to a wide-open shooter and they miss,” Coach Forde said.

“We wanted to get out and be aggressive on the ball, we wanted to collapse in and protect the paint, so getting out there and closing out on those shooters, especially on a late contest, is pretty important.”

“It’s an effort thing. Just like the rebounding, just like closing out to shooters, it’s all about effort.”

“Can you get to your position? Can you support your teammate? Can you get back out and close out your own man? Can you move your feet and not be a liability defensively?”

“Perth did a good job picking us apart in those areas.”

Outside of Martin’s 18 points, only two other Kings finished with double figure scoring on a night to forget, with Dejan Vasiljevic going for 13 points, four rebounds and three assists and Jordan Hunter producing 10 points and six rebounds despite playing just 15 minutes due to foul trouble.

Sydney shot the ball at 37% from the field, were 8 of 22 from three-point range and went to the free throw line just 12 times for an 11 of 12 return.

The Kings have a pair of blockbuster confrontations in Round 12. First up is a road game against arch-rival Illawarra Hawks next Thursday night 1 April at the WIN Entertainment Centre before they return home to resume hostilities against the Perth Wildcats on the following Saturday night 3 April at Qudos Bank Arena. Tickets for Saturday’s game are on sale now via Ticketek.

Rise With Us Sydney.

PERTH WILDCATS 89 (Cotton 29. Travers 16, Mooney 13)
SYDNEY KINGS 65 (Martin 18, Vasiljevic 13, Hunter 10) at Qudos Bank Arena.

BOXSCORE