Cairns' Unrivalled Comeback Win

You can use one word to describe last night's dramatic overtime clash between Sydney and Cairns. Unrivalled.

Monday night's action-packed game saw the Taipans claim victory over the reigning champion Kings, and get revenge for their loss at the buzzer to the same opposition in Round 5.

The Snakes found themselves down by as many as 14 points early in the fourth quarter, but they managed to slither their way back into the contest to send the game to overtime taking charge once Xavier Cooks fouled out with 3:30 to play.

After starting the game uncharacteristically sluggishly, the Taipans' 94-88 win over Sydney hammers home just how strong Cairns' claim to the title stands.

“I felt real confident going into overtime, I felt our momentum was in our favour," Cairns coach Adam Forde said. "They went with a small-ball line up, so we targeted where we wanted to put that ball.

Forde iterated that in this league, anything can happen. You don’t need to be hitting dunks or threes on every play to set yourself up for a win. The Taipans’ strategy worked in their favour and Forde applauded the team.

“You look at the stat sheet and if you take away the scores, you think we’d be at the poor end of it in terms of loss, shooting 20 per cent from three and getting out rebounded. This is what’s great about the team - we’re able to generate turnovers. This is what the team is designed to do,” Forde said.

“If the shot drops, great. If it doesn’t, we find other ways to win,” he said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WE&#39;RE GOING TO OT!!! ?<br><br>Watch LIVE on ESPN ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://t.co/rV6ifshGzZ">pic.twitter.com/rV6ifshGzZ</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1597177310611849216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Import guard Shannon Scott is the definition of the above with his performance in the game. He shot a disappointing 0/8 from the field but exuded calmness with the ball in hand to finish with zero turnovers.

A key message Scott received from Forde at half time to motivate the team was “staying strong on defence and staying sound.”

“The big part of our game was we didn’t turn the ball over that much, we had ten team turnovers and as long as we got a shot up that is a good thing,” Scott said.

Forde showed his appreciation for Scott playing an important role for the Taipans.

“When DJ (Hogg) fouled out there was a point where I wanted to communicate what we wanted to do defensively and Shannon (Scott) was already over it and it was exactly what I wanted,” Forde said.

“It allows me to concentrate on other things where I don’t feel like I’ve got to constantly be barking from the sidelines.

“Shannon has been a massive inclusion and will continue to be that for the rest of our campaign,” he said.

The Taipans’ top scorer for the night Keanu Pinder wowed the crowd with his first ever 30-point game, and he also added 13 rebounds and two assists for the Snakes.

“He’s never had 30 points before so he’s happy about that and I’m happy for him,” Forde said.

“His maturity is really showing through, to really pick his moment."

The Taipans are hoping to secure another win against the Adelaide 36ers in Round 9 on Friday at 7:30pm AEDT.