Kings edge Taipans in bizarre NBL thriller

Friday, December 8, 2023

Jonah Antonio's shot was the final act of a bizarre evening during which the shot-clock was absent in the second half.

Cairns Taipans sharpshooter Jonah Antonio has banked a long-range three-pointer milliseconds after the final buzzer, allowing the Sydney Kings to escape with a thrilling and bizarre 86-83 NBL win.

Taipans import Patrick Miller's earlier attempted game-tying shot with 2.4 seconds left on Thursday night was denied thanks to Jaylin Galloway's defensive brilliance as he snatched the ball from his grasp under the rim.

But Antonio's bomb from just inside half-court moments later had the Taipans players sprinting onto the Cairns Convention Centre court to celebrate, believing the game was going into overtime, only to be told otherwise.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CairnsTaipans</a> were this close to forcing overtime ? <a href="https://t.co/n8DKmR0bbB">pic.twitter.com/n8DKmR0bbB</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1732728246993887465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It was the final act of a bizarre evening during which the shot-clock was absent in the second half, following a 51-minute delay due to power outages.

With Cyclone Jasper hovering ominously, power problems caused the venue's shot-clock to stop working when the Kings led 48-37 at half-time.

NBL chief executive David Stevenson confirmed a contingency plan was hatched to have a camera film the shot-clock on a laptop and project that on the big screen.

That idea was soon shelved and, with the power remaining out, both teams agreed to play the second half without a shot-clock.

Prior to the power troubles, Sydney made a high-voltage start, riding their zone defence to a 33-15 quarter-time lead.

Cairns missed their first 14 three-pointers and fell further behind, 41-19, before fighting back with a 9-0 burst.

The Kings were superb after the long interlude, skipping ahead 61-41 before the Snakes again bit back, reducing the buffer to 13 at three quarter-time.

With the air conditioning also conking out, players from both teams were slipping and sliding and Sydney appeared to start wilting.

Taipans Next Star Bobi Klintman's back-to-back treys and Miller's muscular three-point play saw the scores tied.

Kings superstar Jaylen Adams slotted eight free throws without a miss in the contest's last three minutes, while also taking advantage of the clock's absence by holding onto long possessions.

It was those free-throws pivotal in the result. Adams himself went 12-of-12 at the stripe for the game and as a team Sydney went a solid 24-of-32. However, Cairns had a rough night at teh charity line going 12-of-25 with backcourt duo Tahjere McCall and Miller combining for 4-of-14.

Adams finished the night with 24 points and seven assists as well for the Kings with Galloway adding 13 points and seven rebounds, DJ Hogg 12 points, seven boards and three assists, and Next Star Alex Toohey 12 points.

Miller top-scored once more for the Snakes with another 22 points and seven assists while Klintman contributed 13 points and four rebounds and McCall 12 points, six boards, four steals and two assists before fouling out late.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

CAIRNS TAIPANS 83 (Miller 22, Klintman 13, McCall 12)

SYDNEY KINGS 86 (Adams 24, Galloway 13, Hogg 12, Toohey 12)

BOX SCORE