R21 Preview: Sydney Kings v Brisbane Bullets

When: 8.00pm (AEST), Saturday 5 June 

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Brisbane 93 (Drmic 28, Sobey 19, Patterson 13) d Sydney 70 (Hunter 15, Martin 13, Weeks 10) – Round 18, Nissan Arena, Brisbane

This game back three weeks ago was in Brisbane and the Bullets handed the Kings a spanking, and in hindsight it's a big reason why both teams are in the position they are now on Saturday night hoping to fight to stay alive.

The match was effectively over at half-time as Drmic channelled the great John Rillie with a career-best 28 points including 7/10 from his three-point attempts as well as five rebounds and four assists as his Bullets went into the break leading 52-27.

The stats were damning for Sydney. Just 10 baskets from 44 attempts, a shooting clip of just 22 per cent. Just a single three-pointer from 16 attempts (6.3 per cent). Just two assists for the entire half. 

The Kings were actually winning the rebound count as well, but couldn't find a way to put anything together with the rock in hand.

There were attempts at comebacks in the third and fourth quarters but the Bullets never really looked like being chased down. It was a vital result for both sides, with Brisbane firmly in the mix for a top four spot and the Kings in real danger of missing out.

Nathan Sobey was prolific as usual with 19 points, four rebounds and five assists while Lamar Patterson had 13 points and four rebounds. 

In an encouraging sign for the Bullets, newly minted import BJ Johnson finished with 12 points and four rebounds after missing all eight shots in his debut match against Cairns.

To be fair to the travelling Kings, they came into the match severely undermanned with Shaun Bruce joining Angus Glover and DJ Vasiljevic on the sidelines while Didi Louzada is shining on the NBA floor for the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Jordan Hunter toiled as always to notch up a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds with Jarell Martin adding 13 points and latest recruit Jarrad Weeks splashed 10 after moving from New Zealand. 

It was a disappointing night for Casper Ware who could only manage six points on 3/12 shooting in his 150th NBL match. 

 

The now

This is truly a fascinating game to prepare for both for the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets as they nervously await the result of Saturday's earlier match to see what they are playing.

The Kings and Bullets have both won games recently to keep themselves alive in the playoff race now entering the final days of the #NBL21 season, but unfortunately for both their fate isn’t completely in their hands.

Right now the Sydney Kings sit in fifth position with an 18-17 record and the Brisbane Bullets are sixth at 17-17. But that means they are sitting behind the fourth placed South East Melbourne Phoenix who are 18-16. With the Phoenix also having a superior percentage than both, the reality is either the Kings or Bullets can only reach the finals if South East Melbourne loses their remaining two matches.

That's where Saturday becomes so interesting with the Phoenix first up against the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland. If South East Melbourne wins that game, the Kings and Bullets will be decidedly flat coming into their clash. But if New Zealand wins, Sydney and Brisbane will have it all to play for.

Basically a loss for the Phoenix means that whoever wins this clash between the Kings and Bullets will make the finals IF Brisbane then beats South East Melbourne in Brisbane on Tuesday as well.

Both teams have been playing good recently to give themselves the chance too.

The Bullets have won their past three matches against Cairns, New Zealand and South East Melbourne to put themselves in this position where two more wins and they could play finals.

The Kings, meanwhile, have won four of their past six matches including the last two against Melbourne and Illawarra, both locked into the finals, to give themselves a sniff coming into this last game at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday night.

 

The stats

- The Kings have won their last five home games at Qudos Bank Arena against the Bullets including scoring a season-high 119 points against them in Round 9

- The Bullets have won their last seven matches when scoring 90 or more points while they have lost their last seven when scoring under 90 points

- Brisbane is on a season-best three-game winning streak and during that they have shot over 50 per cent from the field. They are a perfect 8-0 when doing that in #NBL21.

- Brad Newley will celebrate his 250th game in the NBL when he steps onto the floor for the Kings. He began his career with three seasons at the Townsville Crocodiles and now is in his fifth season at the Kings have returned to Australia after an outstanding European career.

 

The key men

Xavier Cooks – He has been an instant difference-maker for the Kings since making his return after missing the opening 28 games of the season through injury especially now with the absence of Didi Louzada and DJ Vasiljevic. He has always been a strong rebounder, defender and playmaker which has continued during his return this season, but he shot the ball tremendously in Thursday's win over the Hawks too to end up with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.  He hit 3/4 from downtown but he has never played in an NBL win against Brisbane despite having won 10 of his last 11 games he's taken part in at Qudos Bank Arena.

Nathan Sobey – He has certainly enjoyed life against the Kings so far this season. He put up 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds against them in their first meeting, then a season-high 35 points and six assists during the NBL Cup. He delivered another 31 points and eight rebounds next up and now another big performance on Saturday and the Bullets will be tough to stop. 

 

The quotes

Six-time NBL champion and six-time Best Defensive Player Damian Martin offered his thoughts on what he's expecting from the game.

"The reality is you probably have guys in the locker room who will be keeping check on the score. They'll finish getting their shots up and they'll come back into their locker room and some of them will check the score, but they won't know the final score because they might be back out on the court by then," Martin said on Hoops Heaven Basketball Hustle, which you can listen to by clicking here.

"But if it comes down to something being required, I wouldn’t be surprised that the coaches make them aware that it's all on the line now. I think if motivation if required and a win could get you to post-season play, the players should be made aware of it.

"It's going to be an interesting game too. Sobey is a First Team All-NBL player as far as I'm concerned and with the form Jase Cadee is in could make him the X-factor, and then you have Casper. If he goes 1/11 then then Kings will struggle but if he goes for 26 or 30 points then I don’t think the Kings lose on the back of that. 

"They've got Jordy Hunter who should be Most Improved Player and Xavier Cooks is doing some good things so I give the Kings the edge to win. But I love in particular the season Sobey has had and I'd love to see the level he could go to in post-season. I am leaning towards the purple, though, in a tight one."

Kings coach Adam Forde knows the scenario means it's not just as simple as them winning and they are in come Saturday night, but all they can do is win the game and hope for the best.

"Obviously South East has the advantage with points percentage which is what it is but after this win Melbourne, Illawarra and Brisbane, who we now play, we are all split in the series' and then we have the head-to-head on everybody else," Forde said.

"Obviously the one that hurts is going 0-5 against Perth but that doesn’t influence who makes top four, percentage does. Hopefully New Zealand can do some damage for us at home and then we can take care of Brisbane, and then on the flipside can inflict the same damage on South East and we've got ourselves a chance. But the only thing we can control is how we play against Brisbane so we are going to focus in on that and just let the basketball gods take care of the rest."

Forde will also be hoping Saturday night isn’t his last game as Kings coach and that his first, and last season, at the helm will extend into the post-season.

"It would be great to reach finals obviously, you get paid out a few bonuses in the process so that's always handy," Forde said. 

"But we are just focusing in on this game and the effort and pride that the boys are going to put on the court has nothing to do with or anybody else. It's just the identity that we've been building this season."

Sydney forward Xavier Cooks was tremendous for the Kings in the Thursday win over the Hawks and he's hoping for a similar effort from the team on Saturday.

"When we play with energy we're a really good team. We've got to play hard on every possession, no slipping and we know Brisbane can come out good," Cooks said.

"They really hurt us last time in Brisbane, they came out shooting and they just out toughed us. If we come out aggressive and keep this energy going, I think we'll be good."

Brisbane coach Andrej Lemanis is also seeing his time at the helm of the Bullets come to an end, but all he's focused on still is doing what he can to give them a chance of reaching the finals in his last season.

"We had no margin for error and we had to win games, we are in that situation where we are playing our finals basketball now. We spoke before the game about how awesome this is and that you want meaningful games, and you want to be in a position to be in games that matter," Lemanis said. 

"That's nothing to shy away from and that's an opportunity to get excited about. We just need to keep chipping away and not get too far ahead of ourselves. We take a one day at a time approach and we get ready for this game against Sydney where we have to come out and play well. The thing is we are playing other desperate teams and everybody is in the same boat that we are playing which is great. We're looking forward to this game."

Bullets centre Tyrell Harrison played his 50th game in Wednesday's win over the Phoenix, and he would love nothing more than to farewell Lemanis with a finals run.

"It means a lot to the group and obviously us for Drej as well with him being around the Bullets organisation for the fifth season now," Harrison said.

"We're still in it and after this game now it looks like all of us are motivated to go all the way and to send Drej off with a little ring. It would be nice."