By Darren Snowdon
The Sydney Kings have enhanced their reputation as the NBL’s road warriors after a dominant first-half display helped set up a comfortable 91-71 win over Melbourne United and establish a league record with 14 consecutive away victories.
Melbourne entered Sunday’s clash at John Cain Arena with a two-game winning streak over their bitter rivals, including a 42-point drubbing in round three of last season.
Kings pair Justin Simon and Xavier Cooks enjoy the comfortable win in Melbourne.Credit:Getty Images
But the Kings turned the tables in emphatic fashion with a first-half demolition job to lead 57-23 at half-time.
The visitors set up the win with a stunning run of 25 consecutive points in the first half, captain Xavier Cooks producing an early contender for dunk of the year with a spectacular one-handed effort over United’s Isaac Humphries as part of a 16-0 start to the second quarter.
Xavier Cooks throws down a huge dunk.Credit:Getty Images
“Yeah, he punched it on that man real bad. That’s probably the best dunk I’ve ever seen,” guard Dejan Vasiljevic said about his teammate’s high-flying finish over the 211-centimetre Melbourne centre.
The versatile Cooks scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the pivotal second quarter while anchoring a defensive effort that held United to a lowly 19 per cent (8 of 41) shooting in the first half, the 2002 NBL Finals MVP earning high praise from coach Chase Buford for his performance.
“He was obviously just in the zone in the first half, feeling it. He’s fun to watch when he’s going you know,” Buford said after the 27-year-old Cooks steered the defending champions to a third straight win to open the new campaign.
“I don’t know if there’s anybody that’s more pleasing on the eye, at least for my value, to watch when he’s at full tilt.”
United made a horror start by missing 11 of their first 12 shots before Xavier Rathan-Mayes connected on back-to-back triples, yet they only trailed by one near the end of the first quarter.
But a pair of three-pointers from Vasiljevic capped a 9-0 finish for the Kings to edge ahead 27-17 before United imploded in the second term, Cooks stamping his class on the game with three triples alongside his highlight dunk.
The Kings extended the lead to 38 points early in the second half but while United managed to outscore Sydney in the third and fourth quarters, coach Dean Vickerman lamented his side’s inability to score when it mattered and felt a lack of physicality at the start of the match led to their downfall.
“There was a 25-0 run there and you know, that’s unacceptable for us as an offensive team to not be able to counter it and not be able to put the ball in the hole through that period,” Vickerman said.
