Doyle and JackJumpers Blow Kings Away

The Tasmania JackJumpers lit it up in the fourth quarter led by new import Milton Doyle in Saturday night's Grand Final rematch to beat the Sydney Kings 73-53 on the second day of the NBL Blitz in Darwin.

It's Day 2 of the NBL Blitz in Darwin and the first of seven straight double-header evenings with Tasmania and Sydney doing battle in a rematch from the Grand Final series that closed the 2021/22 season.

It was a tight affair for most of the way until the JackJumpers did what they so often did in their maiden NBL season. 

Tasmania was a standout defensive team and they locked right down on the Kings once again holding them to just seven points the entire fourth quarter and only 53 for the game on 29 per cent shooting from the field while going 5/27 at 18 per cent from beyond the arc.

The JackJumpers then caught fire at the same time to open the fourth quarter with three-point bombs from Sean Macdonald, Jarrad Weeks, Doyle and Jack McVeigh. That saw them go on a 16-1 run to start the quarter and to end up winning by 20 points.

Milton Doyle has big shoes to fill as the replacement import shooting guard following Josh Adams' heroics last season, but the signs are exciting for the JackJumpers. He had seven points as part of that 16-1 run on his way to 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for the game.

Jack McVeigh is back healthy to make his first appearance of the pre-season and he top-scored for Tasmania with 16 points in just 18 minutes on the back of hitting 4/4 from downtown.

Rashard Kelly also finished with nine points, four rebounds and two blocks, Jarrad Weeks eight points and five boards, Sean Macdonald seven points and two steals, Fabijan Krslovic seven points, and Josh Magette six points and five assists.

Fleur McIntyre was in charge of the Kings on the evening in their first game at the Blitz and new import guard Derrick Walton had his moments on his way to 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Kouat Noi is fresh off winning the NBL1 North MVP award and had nine points and 10 rebounds for Sydney with Justin Simon adding seven points, three rebounds and two assists, Jackson Makoi seven points, and Tim Soares six points and six boards.

Tasmania came into the game without captain Clint Steindl, star centre Will Magnay and reigning NBL1 South Grand Final MVP Sam McDaniel, but they still got off to a strong start in the Grand Final rematch including an early triple from Josh Magette.

Derrick Walton responded in kind for Sydney but it was tough going offensively for both teams in the first quarter with the Kings up 13-12 by quarter-time.

DJ Vasiljevic and Tim Soares were able to knock down triples early in the second quarter to keep Sydney on top before the JackJumpers went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead.

However, the Kings responded with an and-one from Justin Simon and then a second triple of the quarter from Soares to lead 35-34 at half-time.

The JackJumpers opened the third quarter impressively with an 8-2 run including three balls from Magette and Fabijan Krslovic.

A Jack McVeigh three then saw the lead grow to five, but again the Kings responded including Walton nailing another long-range to cut Tasmania's lead to two going into the fourth.

If the game was on the line still at three quarter-time, it didn’t stay that way for long with Tasmania locking in defensively and then catching fire from downtown.

In the first six minutes of the fourth term, Sydney's lone point was a free-throw from Xavier Cooks while Sean Macdonald, Jarrad Weeks, Doyle and McVeigh all connected from long-range for Tasmania.

Doyle then hit another couple of buckets to stretch the lead to 17 before eventually Sydney got a field goal courtesy of Noi. However, the JackJumpers finished the job including a triple from Isaac White to win by 20.

There will be another two games on Sunday in Darwin at the NBL Blitz with the Brisbane Bullets first up against the New Zealand Breakers before the Illawarra Hawks play Melbourne United.

Tasmania's next match up will be on Monday against the Adelaide 36ers while Sydney next plays on Wednesday against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL BLITZ – DAY 2

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 73 (McVeigh 16, Doyle 13, Kelly 9)

SYDNEY KINGS 53 (Walton 12, Noi 9, Makoi 7, Simon 7)

BOX SCORE

Written for nbl.com.au by Chris Pike