NBL 2019/20: Sydney Kings crush Brisbane with brutal third quarter
The Brisbane Bullets led by 15 in the first half – and looked like they were on track to end a shocking losing streak against the Sydney Kings. Then it all fell to pieces.
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A disastrous third quarter from Brisbane saw them fall to a ninth-straight loss to bogey team Sydney with the Kings claiming a seesawing 95-85 victory at Nissan Arena on Friday night.
Brisbane led by 15 late in the second quarter but it was all the Kings after that with Sydney producing a blistering 28-8 third term when they blew past the ice-cold Bullets.
The league-leading Kings scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to set-up their seventh win from eight outings in the 2019-20 NBL season and draw a close to an eight-day, three-game road trip.
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Brisbane produced a real Jekyll and Hyde performance – so aggressive and fluid in the first half but so stagnant and clunky after the main break to drop to a 4-4 record.
The issue of refereeing standards in the NBL will not go away after that contest either with the officials frustrating both teams and the crowd of 3757.
Lamar Patterson (22 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists) was the standout for the home side who committed 17 turnovers, were called for 10 more fouls than Sydney and hit 31 shots from 71 attempts in their first loss at “The Armoury”.
Brad Newley (20 points, seven rebounds), Casper Ware (17 points, five assists), Jae’Sean Tate (18 points) and Craig Moller (13 points, six rebounds) were the best for Sydney while Andrew Bogut had two points to go with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocked shots.
Two Jason Cadee long bombs briefly stopped the rot for Brisbane in the third quarter but Sydney marched on and took the lead inside the last three minutes of the quarter before rolling into the last break with a 75-68 cushion.
The bottom line in the third quarter was that Sydney could not miss while the Bullets would have struggled to hit the side of a house.
After a wildly fluctuating second quarter, Brisbane took a 60-47 lead into halftime.
The Bullets quickly jumped out to a 10-point advantage after enjoying a 31-23 quarter-time buffer but their flowing offence stopped to a trickle with a number of turnovers inviting the Kings back into the contest.
Sydney closed to within three points on the back of fastbreak points after Brisbane got sloppy at the offensive end but the Bullets found their range again and looked after the ball better to streak away from the visitors.
Brisbane led by as much as 15 points late in the second term as Patterson (13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block) led the way in the first half with some good support from Matt Hodgson (11 points) in the paint.
Significantly, Brisbane led the rebound count 21-15 at the main break.
DidiLouzada (11 points) and Moller (nine points) kept Sydney in the contest before the Kings gathered themselves and kicked away in the third term.
“I thought we didn’t start the (third) quarter with the right intent,’’ Bullets head coach Andrej Lemanis said.
“Offensively, our first three possessions we didn’t have people in the right spot so therefore we didn’t execute and that set a bit of a tone.
“We got manhandled defensively. They obviously got up and in and started grabbing and holding and were very physical and that ended up meaning we got bogged down…it’s that last five minutes of the third quarter…we go two points to 16.
“It’s something to have your offence not working for you but you’ve got to be able to hold the fort with defence.’’
Three Bullets players fouled out – Nathan Sobey, Matt Hodgson, EJ Singler – as Brisbane were called for 30 fouls compared to Sydney’s 20.
“It’s 50 percent more fouls,’’ Lemanis said
Kings head coach Will Weaver said the players led the halftime talk and “the intent was fantastic in that third quarter”.
“Brisbane was tough. They might have made us look sluggish with the way they were playing. It took us a while to attack their pressure,’’ he said.
“Every screen they do a really good job of pushing off your spot.
“These guys (Kings players) put their body on the line again and again and again. There were hellacious screens. Hips, shoulders and forearms and knees and toes.
“They just kept avoiding and kept trying to chase. By the end of the night we forced some misses and I thought wore their guys out.”
SYDNEY KINGS 95 (B Newley 20 J Tate 18 C Ware 17) BRISBANE BULLETS 85 (L Patterson 22 M Hodgson 13 N Sobey 12) at Queensland State Netball Centre
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