NBL round 10: Phoenix defeat Kings 104-84, Melbourne United thrash Brisbane 103-68
Despite one hell of a spray from Sydney Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah, Mitch Creek and the Phoenix were too strong, stunning the fans of the champions in Sydney.
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Sydney Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah was as animated as anyone had seen him when he called a time-out in the second quarter of the NBL match against South East Melbourne Phoenix at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
It was early doors but the Kings were streaky, appeared casual, and when an offensive rebound was on offer, it was like the ball had spiders on it.
Abdelfattah stabbed fingers at his men, stared at them with bug eyes, and exchanged words with Denzel Valentine as the guard jogged back into play.
The rocket seemed to be what the Kings needed when an 8-2 run followed. Abdelfattah then flexed his right biceps and challenged his team to “build a wall” before successfully reviewing a call against his team.
None of it mattered a jot to Phoenix and their best player, Mitch Creek.
With Creek and Alan ‘Sauce’ Williams (21 points, 15 rebounds) dominating, and their defence apparently inspired by the loss of two key men, the visitors ran out victors 104-94 in front of 13,097 stunned spectators.
HOT SAUCE
“Williams and Creek are doing whatever they want,” Kings assistant coach Fleur McIntyre observed at half-time. “We’ve got to be way more physical, way more urgent and start sending bodies at them. They are killing us one-on-one.”
It was third versus fifth according to the NBL ladder, the visitors going in after a season-ending knee injury to Craig Moller and the sacking of import Will Cummings.
Yet the Phoenix came out hot, with Williams raining bombs and scoring 18 points in the first half.
In a frenetic first quarter the Kings gave up six fouls, 10 free-throws and 32 points, while shooting 12 of 19 from the field, despite some athletic incursions from Jaylin Galloway who finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
UP THE CREEK
The game took a turn when Williams incurred his fourth foul, three minutes into the third quarter, when an errant elbow caught Jordy Hunter in the cheekbone.
Yet it only fired up Phoenix and Creek whose shooting, including a booming three-pointer, saw his team out to an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Phoenix coach Mike Kelly took a risk by putting Williams back in the game with two minutes left in the third quarter. The big man immediately made two rebounds and two points – and didn’t foul out.
Yet it continued to be Creek that Phoenix went to, the all-action man finishing with a game-high 33 points.
“It’s a massive week for the club, Creek said. “We made a tough decision this week in getting rid of a great man and a great player. We had a line in the sand moment of what we want off court and on court. And backs against the wall [enjoyed] a massive, massive win.”
NUMBERS MEN
The league’s leading three-point man, Jaylin Adams, made two from six from outside while Valentine landed four three-pointers from nine attempts, several of them from way outside the ‘D’.
Jonah Bolden was the Kings’ best with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while it was odd to see Kings’ talisman Angus Glover receive so few minutes (10:49).
GOULDING’S THREE MINUTES OF MAYHEM BLASTS BULLETS AWAY
-- Lance Jenkinson
Three minutes of Chris Goulding mayhem turned what was a close-fought contest into a blowout as ladder-leaders Melbourne United romped to a 103-68 win over Brisbane Bullets at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
Goulding, featuring in his 250th game for United, absolutely terrorised the Bullets from the 5.24 to the 2.41 mark of the second period, reeling off five threes, before finishing with 21 points, including seven threes.
It was not a case of missed Bullets defensive assignments either, the 35-year-old just knocked down some incredibly tough contested shots.
A one-basket game quickly turned into a double digits lead for United and they powered on to improve to 11-3 on the season and maintain their advantage at the top of the NBL ladder.
United has beaten the Bullets in 10 consecutive meetings.
The Bullets raced to a 16-8 lead, but lost their way after quarter time as they slumped to 7-8 on the season, a backwards step after two consecutive wins.
Having won the first half in each of their past eight games, it was no shock to see the Bullets pushing the pace early.
The visitors made it a chaotic start with their up tempo style, putting the United defence on the back foot.
Sam McDaniel had eight first quarter points, but faded to finish with 12.
There was a scary moment when the always reckless Luke Travers, who has missed time with concussion for United this season, toppled over McDaniel and landed heavily, but both players got up.
United cannot afford to lose Travers again, who offers so much at both ends and finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Tyrell Harrison made an impressive start to his 100th game with a reverse jam and featured in a mouth-watering paint battle with United big man Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.
IC RELAUNCH
The tide started to turn late in the first period when veteran United guard Ian Clark, returning from a hamstring injury, drained two threes.
Clark was impactful with 14 points.
While United’s defensive pressure ramped up at the start of the second, courtesy of some hard-nosed defence from Kyle Bowen and Ariel Hukporti, United also caught fire from long range to go from trailing at quarter time to leading by a massive 17 by half time.
IGNITION SWITCH
The lethal Goulding flicked the switch that left the Bullets yearning for half time.
In the first half alone, Goulding had 18 points, including six-from-eight from beyond the arc.
United solidified its lead in the third with Matthew Dellavedova as the court general.
There was a slight concern for Bowen, who went to the bench with a dead arm, but he returned to continue his defensive presence..
Bullets veteran Aron Baynes had a running battle with the referees all game and after his fourth he gave the referee an earful, a sign of the frustration that has crept in for his team.
MILESTONES GALORE
It was not only Goulding and Harrison celebrating milestones, Victorian-born Bullets captain Nathan Sobey celebrated his 250th NBL game in front of family and friends in his home state.
Sobey has evolved into one of the premier combo guards in the competition, but had a rough shooting game with 12 points on 4-from-15 from the field.
NBL SCOREBOARD
Melbourne United 103 (Goulding 21 Travers 16 Clark 14 Dellavedova 14d Brisbane Bullets 68 (McDaniel 12 Sobey 12 Harrison 10)
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne
TAIPANS INFLICT MORE PAIN AS 36ERS’ WEEK OF TURMOIL CONTINUES
-- Jason Phelan
The Adelaide 36ers were brave in Scott Ninnis’ first game in charge, but a week of turmoil that included the sacking of coach CJ Bruton and an epic spray from skipper Mitch McCarron ended with a 15-point loss to Cairns.
The Sixers led by a point two minutes into the final term at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, but were outscored 26-10 down the stretch to drop to a 4-10 record that puts them last on the NBL ladder, the Taipans improving to 6-8.
Ninnis said that he would make changes when he replaced Bruton and he made good on that promise.
A day after McCarron made headlines with his expletive-laden tirade aimed at his teammates, the skipper lost his spot in the starting line-up.
Adelaide, last in the league in scoring heading into the clash, was re-energised on offence and passed the 100-point mark for just the second time this season.
SKIPPER BENCHED
A major shake-up was announced before the tip-off, with McCarron dropped from the starting five in favour of Next Star Trentyn Flowers.
The team captain was the only starter to be benched by Ninnis, with star centre Isaac Humphries, sharpshooter DJ Vasiljevic, and imports Trey Kell III and Jacob Wiley retained.
A lack of playing time for Flowers, as well as Nick Marshall and Kyrin Galloway, was reportedly one of the reasons for Bruton’s departure and the trio was afforded more opportunities by Ninnis with an eye on the future.
McCarron checked into the game in the first quarter and played just over 10 minutes for two points, while fellow veterans Jason Cadee, Tohi Smith-Milner and Sunday Dech didn’t leave the bench all game.
Flowers played 17 minutes and finished with no points from two attempts, Marshall with four points from nine minutes and Galloway no points from five minutes.
LONG-RANGE BLITZ
The 36ers’ line-up looked different, but the slow starts and poor three-point shooting that have dogged them this season remained.
The home side trailed by nine points at the first change after the Taipans unleashed a long-range bombardment to record their highest first quarter of the season.
The visitors shot a jaw-dropping 9-from-12 from outside the arc, including four triples in a row in a 12-0 run.
Next Star Bobi Klintman drained four triples from six attempts while the Sixers, who rank last in the league in three-point shooting and first-quarter points, shot 1-from-5 from long range.
GLASS HALF-FULL
After scoring a record low total of 59 points in the 35-point loss to Tasmania that precipitated Bruton’s departure, Adelaide had 57 by halftime with 31 points in a hot second quarter.
But Cairns was equal to the task, pouring in a season-high 61 to lead the Sixers by four points at the main break.
It was the 12th game in a row that Adelaide has been behind at halftime.
Resurgent Adelaide led by four points late in the third quarter after an eye-watering low blow from Bul Kuol on McCarron drew an unsportsmanlike foul, but Jonah Antonio put the visitors up by one at the last break with his third three-pointer.
FLOP CALL
Tahjere McCall, who finished with 15 assists, drew the ire of the home fans and drew a flop warning from officials after going down a little easy with contact, and Klintman was issued a technical foul in the fourth quarter when he was deemed to have taken a dive.
Kuol fouled out with his side leading by six points with just over three minutes left in the game.
Adelaide assistant coach Craig Simpson was not present for the match, a club spokesman confirming he was tending to a family emergency.
JACKJUMPERS POUNCE ON BREAKERS IN REVENGE FOR SEMI FINAL LOSS
—Jonathon Tuxworth
The JackJumpers haven’t forgotten the pain of last year’s season-ending semi final loss in Auckland.
And they managed to find a smidgen of closure after their suffocating defence, rebounding dominance and a Jordon Crawford scoring blitz propelled them to a 97-80 win over New Zealand on Saturday.
Without talisman guard Milton Doyle after the death of his father, Crawford stepped up in the absence of his back court colleague with 30 points.
Although he only shot 9-28 from the field, 16 of his points came in the first quarter to set up the win.
A 23-8 second term gave the JackJumpers (9-5 record) the buffer they needed to secure a vital road victory, and solidify second spot on the NBL ladder.
After the JackJumpers’ 97-92 loss to the Breakers at Launceston in mid-November, coach Scott Roth challenged his team’s defensive application and warned they’d be finals spectators unless they fix it.
There's rim protection, and there's ð«ð¢ð¦ ð©ð«ð¨ððžðœðð¢ð¨ð§. Will Magnay that is incredible 🥶
— NBL (@NBL) December 9, 2023
Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo 📺 pic.twitter.com/vAZTxTfPFL
They’ve shown signs the message is finally sinking in, with their defensive effort much improved since that defeat.
Tasmania has won three straight since that loss, which they could look back on as a turning point for their campaign.
Their winning streak includes restricting Adelaide to a record club low 59 points last start, prompting the struggling 36ers to sack coach CJ Bruton.
A Jack McVeigh buzzer beater from three-quarter court gave Tasmania a two-point quarter time lead over the Breakers.
They led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter in one of their best performances of the season thus far.
Tasmania killed New Zealand on the boards, leading rebounds 33-17 and 13-2 in offensive rebounds at the main break.
They eventually won those categories 60-34 and 25-6, despite starting centre Marcus Lee only playing the first two-and-a-half minutes of the match as big man Will Magnay (12 points, 12 rebounds) dominated in the paint.
Magnay’s output, despite playing limited minutes as he makes his way back from a foot injury which sidelined him for the opening weeks of the season, has been a massive boost for Tasmania.
The Breakers made a late run to get within ten points with almost three minutes left, but a big block from Magnay to prevent a Jackson-Cartwright lay-up. steadied the ship.
Jack McVeigh also stepped up his offensive output without Doyle, continuing his strong season with 20 points.
Jackson-Cartwright (25 points, six assists) battled hard for the Breakers, while Anthony Lamb had 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
KINGS OUTLAST TAIPANS AFTER BIZARRE SHOT CLOCK SAGA
Matthew McInerny
A camera trained on a laptop was floated as an unlikely hero as the Kings outlasted a resurgent Taipans in an extraordinary night at the Cairns Convention Centre.
A power issue left the shot clocks inoperable, with a 50-minute stoppage in the round 10 clash before the teams agreed to play without a shot clock for the second half.
The long delay meant the game lasted almost three hours, but it was the Kings who turned their hot start into a crucial 86-83 win at the Snakepit.
A long range bomb from Jonah Antonio appeared to force overtime but the sharpshooter got the shot off just after the buzzer sounded, handing Sydney the win.
Jaylen Adams led the Kings with 24 points and Jordan Hunter had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double among five visitors to hit double figures.
For Cairns, Patrick Miller had 22 points and seven assists, on a night the on-court action almost became secondary,
Bizarre scenes in Cairns as a shot clock issue delays the start to the second half by over 30 mins #NBL#NBL24 ðŸ€
— Jonathan Simon (@jonnyess8) December 7, 2023
Anyone got a sundial we can use? pic.twitter.com/A6RXlP5MLI
POWER OUTAGE
The shot clocks at both ends went out as the teams completed their warm-up ahead of the second half, with crews working frantically to address the issue.
The stoppage lasted 50 minutes before play resumed.
Teams remained on court, with players from opposing sides seen chatting courtside, though the majority of players were putting up shots.
The longer the stoppage went, the fewer remained, as officials scrambled for a solution.
NBL CEO Dave Stephenson, who was at the game with NBA scouts, addressed the issue on the broadcast, revealing how a clock on a laptop would become the saviour of the first game of the DC Multiverse Round.
“We’ve had a whole lot of power challenges tonight, looks like a circuit breaker is gone, so they’re working their way through it,” he said on the ESPN broadcast on Foxtel.
“We’ve got an innovative model.
“We’re trying to put a camera on a laptop screen which will give a shot clock and a timer, and get that up on the big (screen), then at least the players will know how much time is left.
“We’ll work our way through it, I think we’ll be fine, but it’s part of the joys of live sport.
“They’re professionals, they’ll come back, it will get through the second half and it will all be fine.”
That solution was not ultimately needed, as both teams agreed to play on without a shot clock.
The two-time defending champion Kings lead 48-37 at the break, with the Taipans slowly working their way back into the contest.
The Kings romped to a 33-15 lead by the end of the first quarter, as poor shooting by Cairns – a measly 33 per cent from the field, including 0-from-12 from three – bringing the offence to a standstill.
Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah said it was a career-first.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like this, but we just have to go with the flow,” Abdelfattah said.
THE BIG DRY
When it rains it pours, but when the buckets dry up for a team unafraid to let it fly, it is a tough, tough watch.
Fresh off a record-setting outing against Melbourne United, in which the Taipans put up the highest score of NBL24 (115pts) with the best field goal percentage in franchise history, the script flipped as they failed to buy a bucket against the Kings.
The home side shot at a measly 35 per cent from the field, including 0-from-12 from three, as the Kings romped to an 18-point lead by quarter time.
It took until the 15th minute of the contest, halfway through the second quarter, for Bul Kuol to land Cairns’ first three – and it came on attempt No. 15.
If it felt familiar, that’s because it was – the Kings endured a similarly tough time when they met in round five.
Both teams are back in action this round, as the Taipans travel to Adelaide to face the 36ers on Saturday, and the Kings host the Phoenix in a Sunday afternoon blockbuster.
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