One of Sydney’s young guns Will Johnston provided the energy and electricity the Kings needed to end Sydney’s two-match losing streak and had the Afterpay Arena crowd roaring in unison on Saturday night.
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Despite a return to some sort of form for Kings’ star Kendric Davis with 23 points, four rebounds and eight assists against the Perth Wildcats, it was the NBL’s rat-tailed star who posted 13 points in a little more than a quarter starting and provided the energy for a 102-81 victory starting with a jump shot from three to remember.
Capped off by a half-court effort by American import Torrey Craig on the final buzzer to finish with a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. The second buzzer beater of the game.
“He’s provided them a spark,” former Australian Boomer Jason Cadee commenting on young gun Johnston’s performance off the bench via ESPN.
Johnston sent the crowd of 8,032 was sent into raptures as the buzzer went for three quarter time.
A jump shot from well outside three had the 25-year-old and about and the crowd cheering in unison as his three gave the Kings a 13-point lead at the final break, which the Kings extended by the final buzzer.
“The energizer for the Sydney Kings, gives them exactly that,” Matt Russell remarked on ESPN. “High voltage basketball.”
He went again deep from three early in the final quarter and a final three with a little more than two minutes to go, put the final nail in the coffin and ‘the man from Redfern let everyone know about it’. His electricity off the bench crucial to the win with a total of 17 points, including three threes.
“He’s been electric for the team (whenever he’s been on court),” former King Brad Rosen remarked on ESPN.
Perth kept surging back into the contest, at one stage getting within four points, until their resistance without two stars broke in the final quarter.
Pepper’s run halted, others step up
Perth’s Elijah Pepper entered Saturday night’s fixture in Sydney in the top three for average points per game with 23.8 behind only six-time MVP Bryce Cotton and injured MVPN contender Parker Jackson Cartwright, and the 25-year-old had 25 points in each of his past four games.
That was until he got to Sydney, in the Wildcats’ first match on the road this season. Pepper did not have a point to his name by the half and three personal fouls.
Instead, 30-year-old American import Dylan Windler was the man to keep the Wildcats in the contest without injured stars Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Kristian Doolittle, posting 12 points, four rebounds and three assists by the half and finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
“He’s brought Perth Wildcats back into this game,” Brad Rosen remarked in the second quarter on the ESPN call.
Star import and 451-game NBA veteran Brandon Knight scored 10 points in his second game for the Wildcats with little impact.
Something to cheer about
The crowd took a while to build at Afterpay Arena with traffic chaos outside as thousands of disappointed Wallabies’ supporters left the precinct after losing the Bledisloe Cup 2-zero with a yet another loss to the All Blacks’ next door at Accor Satdium.
Some of the 73,399, however stuck around to enjoy the Kings go to work posting 52 points in the first half, with a lead of nine at the main break, before …
“The crowd is really starting to build here at Afterpay Arena, they were a little slow because of the Bledisloe Cup which was being played across the road,” ESPN courtside reporter Jo Healy observed mid-way through the second quarter of Saturday night’s clash.
“There are a number of Wallabies’ jerseys in the crowd, hopefully the Kings give them something to cheer about,” she sarcastically remarked.
And they did, in raptures when Craig and Johnston sealed their threes.
SUPERSTAR’S STATEMENT AS BOLD CHANGES PAY OFF
A banged up Nathan Sobey produced an inspirational first half to drag under-fire South East Melbourne Phoenix to a crushing 115-83 win over in-form Cairns Taipans at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.
At 2-5 and with the bitter taste of defeat to Brisbane Bullets less than 48 hours earlier, Phoenix stared a concerning 12-point deficit in the face after conceding 35 with turnstile defence in the first quarter, but Sobey brushed off any lingering pain with a dominant 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The 36-year-old’s 24 first-half points were the key to Phoenix’s fightback and came on the back of a knee concern stemming from the loss to the Bullets.
“He stepped up big for us tonight,” Phoenix coach Josh King said.
“He got dinged up the other night with a knee on knee or a cork and he did a really good job getting rehab and he really contributed majorly to our performance tonight.”
Make no mistake, this was a must-win game for Phoenix with external sources agitating for change.
Phoenix coach Josh King responded with some telling coaching moves, inserting French import Yannis Morin and sharpshooter Angus Glover into the starting positions to freshen up the line up, while import Skylar Mays was one to make way, though he handled it “like a professional”.
“We always fill the box sheet out before the game and Fordy [Taipans coach Adam Forde] actually was right there beside me, so we did it together and he looked at me and said ‘oh, you are mixing things up’,” King said.
“When you’re 2-5, that’s what you do.”
Morin relished his elevation as starter, producing 11 points and 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards, while back up centre on the night Jordan Hunter had 19 points and 11 rebounds, including eight offensive, as Phoenix dominated the boards with 58 rebounds.
Sobey, Hunter (19), Glover (14), Morin (11), Dash Daniels (10) and Skylar Mays (10) all hit double figures for Phoenix.
King said the last two Phoenix performances were world’s apart.
“I just told the guys, from our worst performance, again not taking anything away from Brisbane the other night, but our worst performance of the year, to our best performance,” King said.
“It’s frustrating because we haven’t played this style or the style that we’re capable of until probably today.
“It’s taken us eight games.”
Import clamps star
King left the biggest praise for import D’Shawn Schwartz, who held Taipans star Jack McVeigh to eight points.
“I watched [reigning NBL defensive player of the year] John Brown play against Jack McVeigh last year and I thought D’Shawn Schwartz was our John Brown against Jack McVeigh in this game,” King said.
After conceding 115 points against the Bullets, King was thrilled with the response on the defensive end to restrict the Taipans to 83, including just 28 in the second and third quarters combined.
“The offence is one thing, but I think we had massive efforts and unbelievable performances from guys like Daniel Foster, D’Shawn Schwartz and Yannis Morin,” he said.
“I thought they really anchored our defence and really got us kick-started.
“And then the offence was able to flow from there.”
It was more pain for the Taipans in this head-to-head meeting, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a screeching halt.
The Taipans have lost eight straight games against Phoenix with seven by double digits.
Taipans defensive maestro Malique Lewis relished his chance to face his former team with five blocks to go with his seven points, while Jonah Bolden was a stand out for the visitors with 17 points and five rebounds.