Round 18 Rest Not on Kings' Radar

The Sydney Kings have guaranteed top spot on the ladder heading into finals, but MVP nominee Xavier Cooks says his side isn't taking their foot off the throttle in the last round of the regular season.

The Kings sit in first place on the ladder and are riding a wave of confidence heading into the playoffs, where they’ll look to defend their championship crown.

Cooks says his team are looking to finish the season with momentum and not relax in their clashes with the Adelaide 36ers on Friday and Perth Wildcats on Sunday.

“It’s important to keep our foot on the throttle, not to take things easy,” Cooks said.

Coach Chase Buford added, “momentum is an interesting thing. I think playing well and performance is much better than results now for us going down the stretch”.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Announcing the finalists for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> awards ?<br><br>Join us next Tuesday February 7th at the Andrew Gaze MVP Awards Night live at 8:30pm AEDT on ESPN via Kayo Sports &amp; Foxtel<br><br>Read more here: <a href="https://t.co/qADf1cjlGL">https://t.co/qADf1cjlGL</a><br><br>MVP Finalists ?? <a href="https://t.co/BYzh3gBNKX">pic.twitter.com/BYzh3gBNKX</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1619808072406544384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With talks of Cooks potentially playing less minutes this round to be managed for finals, Buford commented on the importance of every player being confident heading into the postseason.

“It’s important to have our players’ confidence up, it’s important to let everyone have a run out there. Because there’s going to be times where someone might be in foul trouble,” he said.

Defence is a key motivator for Sydney and Cooks admits the team has to improve on that end.

“First and foremost our defence, our defence has to be a little bit better,” Cooks said.

Cooks has continued from his Grand Final MVP win last season to earn a nomination for the regular season MVP award - alongside South East Melbourne's Mitch Creek and Perth's Bryce Cotton.

He says his past experience of getting his hopes up for individual recognition means he's not focusing on individual recognition.

“Last year I thought I was going to get (All-NBL First Team) so much, and I didn't get it," he said.

"I felt let down.

"This year I'm going in with the approach that whatever happens, happens. Individual awards don't define a season in my opinion, anyway."