NBL22: Sydney Kings defeat South East Melbourne Phoenix in thriller, record 10th win in 11 meetings

Sydney has improved its dominant record over South East Melbourne to 10-1 after a nailbiting finish left the Phoenix’s finals hopes in the balance.

Michael Randall

5 min read

March 19, 2022 - 10:30PM

NCA NewsWire

Basketball

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Sydney Kings still own South East Melbourne.

The Kings have never lost to the Phoenix at John Cain Arena in six tries, and now own a dominant 10-1 winning record over the expansion club.

It’s a damning statistic for the Phoenix, compounded by the fact it was their fourth loss on the bounce, leaving them in danger of missing the NBL Finals if they can’t turn things around quickly.

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The desperation from both teams was evident.

One point separated the two teams at quarter time, two at halftime and three at three-quarter-time. No team led by more than seven on the night.

Every moment had playoff intensity, including the dying two minutes where only one field goal was made between both teams as the Kings escaped with a two-point win — only after Kyle Adnam fluffed his inbounds pass with 0.8 left on the clock.

Kings star Jarell Martin dominated the big-man battle. Picture: Getty Images

It’s the eighth time in a row the Phoenix have played a game decided by eight points or less. The Kings have now won eight in a row and coach Chase Buford passed Brian Goorjian for consecutive wins by a coach in their first season in Sydney. He equals Bob Turner in 1989 and is only one away from Alan Black’s 1996 club record. His side is now third on the ladder after spending most of the season in the chasing pack.

Buford said the Kings had grown in confidence when the game was on the line.

“Two months ago, I didn’t see that confidence from myself and from the group,” Buford said.

“Now I walk into the huddles and we know that we might screw something up, we might miss something, but we just have a belief in our group that we’re going to make the right plays.

“We’re going to get the stops we need down the stretch to get it done.”

Xavier Munford was at his aggressive best for Phoenix. Picture: Getty Images

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said the loss might have been his side’s “best performance in five or six games”.

“I thought we battled hard,” Mitchell said.

“It’s a pretty tough road trip coming back (from Wollongong Thursday). It’s a short amount of time to prepare against a team that’s in form and you’re going to have to live with a few errors because of that short preparation.

“I thought we persevered but, having said that, there were some areas where we fell short again and, from that standpoint, I’m a little disappointed.

“There was improvement compared to our game in Illawarra but, again, we need to be better if we’re going to make finals and make a noise in finals.”

The Kings needed their bigs to stand up without injured talisman Xavier Cooks and Jarell Martin was just the man for the job.

Martin was a constant thorn in the side of the Phoenix talls, hitting from deep and using his heft to finish among the trees on his way to 24 points and eight rebounds. He also provided the game’s biggest highlights, throwing down a pair of massive alley-oop jam thanks to a precision passes from Jaylen Adams.

Buford hailed the performance of his former NBA charge.

Jaylen Adams tossed it up and Big ‘Rell skied to get it. Picture: Getty Images

“‘Rell was terrific, ‘Rell hardly missed a shot, he did so many things, battled as the only big guy down there amongst the trees a lot of the night,” Buford said.

“I pulled Jaylen and Ian aside early in the game and said the way they (Phoenix) guard, it might not be your night tonight, it’s probably going to be Rell’s night.

“The way they cover, it’d be easy for Rell to go score 35, is what I told Jaylen — and he damn near, if we’d gotten him the ball more, could have.

“Proud of the way he played, proud of the way he competed on defence, stayed out of foul trouble when we needed him to, just an excellent night from Jarell all the way around.”

It’s no secret Adams does NBA things on the court. Hard up against the sideline on the wing, a little jab step into Phoenix defender Reuben Te Rangi and he rose up and drained a nothing but net three with a hand in his face. He had 15 points and set the table with eight assists for the Kings.

Jaylen Adams fought an intriguing battle with Munford. Picture: Getty Images

Ian Clark provided scoring punch for the Kings. Picture: Getty Images

When Adams rests, another ex-NBA man in Ian Clark takes over.

Clark’s there to do one thing — score the ball. The former Golden State Warrior’s championship experience comes to the fore on dribble hand-offs where he catches it and uses his athleticism and body control to get to the rim.

Hyper-aggressive Phoenix import guard Xavier Munford produced a dominant performance with a game-high 26 points to go with five assists, finishing inside, outside and from the free throw line in arguably his finest performance in lazer green.

Both teams get a breather before Phoenix head north for a date with Cairns next Friday, while the Kings make the tough trek to Perth to take on the Wildcats in their RAC Arena cauldron.

Makur Maker can get up! Picture: Getty Images

Can Makur be a difference-Maker?

With Cooks out, Makur Maker started for the Kings. But his first stint lasted less than two-and-a-half minutes before he checked out without troubling the statistician. He would have a highlight moment as the quarter ended, though, barging his way through the key and knocking down a little bank shot at the buzzer. A three in the third and then some nice work down low showed why there are plenty of eyes on the 211cm, 107kg giant. Injuries and the depth of Sydney’s frontline has meant the Next Star has played sparingly, but the NBA dream is still alive for the 21-year-old Kenyan-born cousin of Boomer and former Milwaukee Buck Thon Maker.

Own goal

In a rare sight on the court, Sydney gifted two points to the Phoenix in the first quarter, sending the ball through their own basket. In a bizarre situation Izayah Le’Afa missed a three Creek grabbed the board but his baby hook took the front of the rim. Adams and Martin failed to communicate and somehow knocked the ball into their own hoop.

Coach’s wobbly

Buford incurred the wrath of the referees with 45 seconds left in the first half, when he turfed his clipboard into the court after Qi finished a layup and Maker was called for a foul. The fiery coach received a technical foul for his outburst, which gifted a freebie to Kyle Adnam. It didn’t hurt too much, though — Qi missed his extra.

Kings coach Chase Buford got T’d up. Picture: Getty Images

Hawks hurt Phoenix

It’s safe to say Brian Goorjian and the Illawarra Hawks won’t be on the Phoenix Christmas card list. After the Hawks bounced South East Melbourne out of the top-four on Thursday night, they went down to Tasmania and knocked off the JackJumpers, adding a buffer between themselves and the Phoenix. The silver lining is SEM plays cellar dwellers Cairns (twice) and Adelaide in their next three — they won’t have a better chance to restart their winning ways.