The NBL ladder-leading Sydney Kings are closing in on a guaranteed semi-final berth after a dominant 108-87 victory over Perth Wildcats on Saturday night.
The defending champions continued their recent stellar form in front of a packed house at Qudos Bank Arena as they racked up their 15th win of the season and fourth on the trot.
Sydney outpointed Perth in almost every aspect of the game in the first half and led by as many as 21 points. Xavier Cooks provided the impetus for a 59-41 advantage at the main break.
The Wildcats’ offence came to life in the second and third quarters as they managed to close the margin to 11 points but Sydney had too many weapons for the visitors to contain with the championship frontrunners averaging a whopping 19.5-point winning margin during their current unbeaten streak.
Cooks produced another stellar performance with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks but told ESPN that the team’s defensive focus on Perth danger man Bryce Cotton paved the way for the victory.
“That was a great team effort, we did a great job of applying the scouting report tonight. It takes a whole community to shut down Bryce Cotton and he got 22 – that’s a good job on Bryce,” Cooks said as the Kings inched closer to a top-two finish.
Xavier Cooks provided the impetus for the Sydney Kings’ win over Perth on Saturday night.Credit:Getty
Recent signing Tai Webster slotted straight into Perth’s starting lineup, replacing injured star Luke Travers, and opened the scoring for his new club with a triple but points became hard to come by as the Kings restricted the Wildcats to 6-of-19 shooting for the term.
After holding Perth to their lowest first-quarter score all season in a 27-14 start, the Kings kept rolling in the second period as they opened up with seven straight points to extend the lead to 20.
In Saturday night’s other match, Melbourne United kept their faint finals hopes alive with a 92-85 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers in Hobart.
Melbourne overcame the loss of centre Isaac Humphries (knee) and veteran David Barlow (concussion) in the first quarter to record their 11th win of the campaign and remain in the hunt for a berth in the league’s new post-season play-in tournament.
Chris Goulding scored a game-high 23 points for United, Marcus Lee dominated under the basket with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, while Shea Ili marked his 200th national league appearance with 10 points and eight assists.
AAP
