Kings Keep Winning on Road, Beat United Again

Monday, October 24, 2022

It was deja vu for Melbourne United as the Sydney Kings came to John Cain Arena and exited with a dominant victory, this time 87-69 to remarkably extend their road winning streak to 16.

Something had to give with two traditional powerhouses battling at John Cain Arena, both with something different to prove.

United, that they are better than their deflating 20-point defeat (where they trailed by 38 points) to the same Kings just two weeks ago. The Kings, well, that they are still the kings after losing two straight home games despite their road dominance.

By the final buzzer, the Kings have now won 16 in-a-row on the road, a streak that includes a playoff tear that snared last season’s title.

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It wasn’t all the Kings’ way early, through, as a pumped-up United landed the first punch in this heated rivalry.

Melbourne big man Isaac Humphries (10 points) cast a tall shadow over this match from the get-go, scoring eight of his team’s first 18 points, which helped United establish an 18-6 lead before five minutes were played.

Although Xavier Rathan-Mayes was passive from the field (two points), the Canadian-born 28-year-old had his fingerprints on this game early. Four of Rathan-Mayes’ seven assists came in the first quarter. With championship composure, the Kings hung in and were duly rewarded. Derrick Walton Jr. showed why he was the G-League assists leader last season, with the former Detroit Pistons point-guard keeping his Kings teammates active and involved, especially by igniting the one-two tandem of Xavier Cooks (14 points) and Jordan Hunter.

Walton finished with a neat stat line of eight points and eight assists, however it was Hunter who kept the Kings in the contest after United’s hot start, scoring seven of his 12 points in the opening period.

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After snatching the lead midway through the second, Sydney extended the margin to seven points buoyed by aggressive shooting from DJ Vasiljevic (11 points) and Shaun Bruce (eight points), but a late United flurry of buckets (including a Chris Goulding buzz beater heading into the half) ensured the difference was a single point (Kings 40-39) heading into the main break. Showing the depth of this Kings squad, American-Brazilian Tim Soares provided a boost in the big man department, stretching for a highlight reel dunk in the third quarter where he took off like a Boeing aircraft. Soares had 10 points and two assists.

Cooks, Hunter and co were even more imposing when Humphries was whistled for his fourth foul with over four minutes to play in the third quarter.

Humphries’ foul trouble exit coincided with a period where the Kings began to re-establish control and put together a 10-0 run that saw them enter the fourth quarter with a 65-54 lead.

Showing his full bag of tricks, Hunter added a three-pointer as the game started to get away from Melbourne.

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When Vasiljevic began the fourth with another Kings three-pointer, United’s road back into the game appeared fraught. It was a familiar feeling in a fourth quarter with the heat out of the match, which will disappoint Vickerman and United fans in equal proportions.Finishing with an impressive 51 per cent mark from the field (33/65), the Kings came away with an emphatic 87-69 win.

For the second time in two weeks, the Kings had dismantled United at home. For the first time in United history, they have lost four in-a-row at John Cain Arena. while Sydney is the only team to win 16 straight road matches.

Kings coach Chase Buford was happy with the response from his group and that they continue to shine away from Sydney.

"I think we’ve shown throughout the season so far that seven or eight if not more guys could lead us in scoring on any given night," Buford said.

"Everybody loves the pass and to share it and it is fun to see that camaraderie. I was just happy with the energy and the determination we had.

"We embrace being the villains a little bit. There are guys in the locker rooms who embrace the hate. You probably get more of that on the road than you do on the road."

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United coach Dean Vickerman just feels he hasn’t got faith in enough members of his team yet to play them for consistent minutes.

"You can just see when you just run out of juice and it is partly on me because I haven't trusted the bench. I'm asking people to play 32 minutes and you can see the drop off," Vickerman said.

"Once we got to that point where multiple people are tired on the floor, our brains stop functioning. Even messages at timeouts and messages in free throws, it couldn't happen.

"As the game wore on, they clogged the paint more and more. We haven't grown our bench enough to compete with these really good teams."

Both Melbourne and Sydney enjoy a six-day break before United plays the Illawarra Hawks in the 'Gong on Saturday while the Kings host the Cairns Taipans.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 4

MELBOURNE UNITED 69 (Tucker 20, Goulding 14, Humphries 10)

SYDNEY KINGS 87 (Soares 14, Cooks 14, Hunter 12)

BOX SCORE