Wildcats take the win in a nail biter

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media

Result: Perth Wildcats 73 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 69

Stats That Matter: Kings 6/34 3PT FG; Rebound count Kings 47 Wildcats 41; Kings 42 points in the paint; Wildcats 12 points from turnovers

Kings MVP: Casper Ware worked hard all night in his compelling duel with Bryce Cotton.

Turning Point: Mitch Norton hit two crucial baskets in the fourth quarter in response to a Kings’ run fuelled by Didi Louzada.

The game was over when: Jarell Martin missed a corner three with 11 seconds left that could have pushed the game into overtime.

Trending in the right direction: Didi Louzada stepped up with 13 points and did another fine job defensively.

A valiant effort from the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings has just fallen short on Thursday night at Qudos Bank Arena, with the purple and gold going down in a 73-69 thriller to the Perth Wildcats.

With Dejan Vasiljevic going down early in the second quarter with an Achilles injury, robbing the Kings of one of their most potent offensive weapons, Sydney faced an uphill climb against the two-time defending champs but showed tremendous grit to hang in there and almost grab an unlikely victory.

The game turned into a physical battle after an entertaining first quarter where the Kings were attacking the rim relentlessly thanks mainly to Jarell Martin, who had nine of his 16 points in the opening frame and looked like he was on the way to a huge offensive night.

Unfortunately, Jarell was later restricted by foul trouble, picking up his third personal foul early in the second quarter and his fourth early in the third period, leaving Sydney without their most consistent inside force for much of the game.

The second period belonged to the visitors, who outscored Sydney 24-15 to take a 47-41 lead into the main break. But to their eternal credit, the Kings kept hanging in there, despite the emotional loss of Vasiljevic and Martin’s long absences. They made Perth work for everything in the third quarter, crashed the glass at both ends and held the Wildcats to just nine points in ten minutes, trailing 56-53 with one period remaining.

Didi Louzada (13 points, three rebounds) sparked a fourth quarter offensive revival with seven straight points to open the period, giving the Kings a four-point lead. And the home team kept taking it up to the Wildcats, defending grimly, grabbing key rebounds and doing everything they could to slow down Bryce Cotton, who was held to 23 points on nine of 25 shooting from the field.

Sydney had their opportunities down the stretch too. A big three from Casper Ware (20 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals) got the Kings a 67-66 lead with two minutes remaining, and after Cotton responded with a deuce and John Mooney (21 points, 10 rebounds) was one of two at the foul line, Ware’s floater in the paint tied it at 71 with a minute remaining.

The crowd was now at fever pitch and Sydney needed a stop, but Mooney broke the fans’ hearts, knocking down a clutch basket with just 38 seconds remaining. Still, the Kings had an opportunity to answer, but Ware missed a look at three. After Mitch Norton (seven points, four rebounds) was fouled on the ensuing possession with 17 seconds left, he made one of two at the charity stripe to make it 72-69 and Sydney had a chance with a triple to get the game into overtime.

Head Coach Adam Forde drew up a great play in the timeout and the Kings executed perfectly, getting a wide-open corner three for Jarell Martin (16 points, nine rebounds). Unfortunately, his shot was off the mark, Sydney was forced to foul, and Mooney made one of two at the free throw line to close it out.

It was unquestionably a tough loss, but after the game all thoughts turned to Dejan Vasiljevic, who has been a terrific addition to the team yet suffered an injury that will prematurely end his season.

“It’s a full (Achilles) rupture, and we’re organising surgery for him now,” Coach Forde said.

“Absolutely gutted for him. We’re obviously all in his corner in the moment, but he’s mentally tough, and he’s handling the whole situation really well.”

“It’s just all about DJ right now, and just making sure we can get him in the best situation and get him to bounce back from this, hopefully as soon as possible.”

Coach Forde also bemoaned his team’s inability to take advantages of their chances, especially against a Wildcat unit that shot the ball poorly for most of the night.

“A lot of self-inflicted wounds by us,” Coach Forde said.

“Nine turnovers in the first half; we go away from what we were doing and we settled for a lot.”

“Again, we talk about the stuff that we highlighted at the start of the season – coming out of timeouts and executing a certain set, we do it and then it gets a little bit diluted in the next possession, and then we turn the ball over and we take crap shots.”

“We’re 21 games in and these are things we have to get better at. We’re past the halfway point of the season now and we have to be better.”

The Kings complete Round 13 with another home game on Sunday 11 April at Qudos Bank Arena against the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Tipoff is set for 3:00pm AEST and tickets for the game are on sale now via Ticketek.

Rise With Us Sydney.

PERTH WILDCATS 73 (Cotton 23, Mooney 21, Blanchfield 10)
SYDNEY KINGS 69 (Ware 20, Martin 16, Louzada 13) at Qudos Bank Arena.

BOXSCORE