The streaking Gold Coast Blaze broke the hearts of nearly 6,000 fans in the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Friday night when they won their fifth straight game thanks to an 82-74 decision over the Sydney Kings.
Sydney came in needing to win almost every game remaining on their schedule to have a chance at making the National Basketball League playoffs and made things that much harder for themselves by falling to one of the hottest teams in the competition right now.
Gold Coast equalled their franchise best winning streak with a hard-earned victory that showed there may be more than two teams capable of winning this season’s championship after all.
It was a tale of two halves as the Kings matched the visitor’s intensity for most of the first half, getting out to an eight point lead at one stage in the second quarter and leading by four points at intermission, but a devastating 17-2 Gold Coast run during a three minute period wrested away control of the game and the Blaze were never headed after that.
“I thought that defensively in the first half we were fine,” a disappointed Sydney Kings’ coach Ian Robilliard said afterwards.
“But in the third quarter, (Adris) Deleon and (Adam) Gibson just shot the ball very well, hit a good percentage, and it wasn’t that our D was poor, it just wasn’t quite up to the level of the Blaze. They outscored us 28-15 in that quarter and after that we were up against it.”
“We looked to punish their press in the first half, but when they threw it out there on us in the second we kind of dropped our bundle, got forced into a halfcourt game, and just struggled from there.”
Gold Coast were led by a spectacular performance from import point guard Deleon, who torched the purple and gold for 29 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Adam Gibson hit 15 of his 17 points in the third quarter and added nine assists, Mark Worthington struggled through early foul trouble yet still produced 12 points and seven rebounds and Will Hudson worked hard for his 10 points for a Blaze unit that jumps to 11-8 on the season.
Anatoly Bose went seven of eleven from the field to pace the Kings with 21 points and four rebounds, Julian Khazzouh finished with 16 points and nine boards although he scored just two points in the second half, while Ben Madgen never stopped trying for his 14 points, four rebounds and four assists for a Sydney team that falls to 8-13 in this iiNet Championship campaign and faces the prospect of taking on the powerful Perth Wildcats at the intimidating ‘Jungle’ next Sunday afternoon.
Although the end result was a great letdown, the night was still a special one at the Kingdome devoted to a very worthy cause in the Heart Foundation and attended by several members of the Sydney Roosters NRL team as well as the usual cavalcade of celebrities, all there to see some of the nation’s best athletes strut their stuff.
Gold Coast wasted little time getting in a flow, pressing up the floor immediately and forcing Sydney into error. A three by Deleon capped a quick 5-0 run out of the blocks, but Luke Cooper found Madgen with a beautiful backdoor feed converted for the three point play to get the Kings on the board and Bose bombed away from the outside to tie the game at six with three minutes gone.
The Blaze were playing the game at a frenetic pace, but the Kings were standing up to the pressure and playing solid defence to stifle the visitor’s transition game. Offensively, the home team started to find their feet, and a strong drive to the basket by Bose gave the purple and gold their first lead of the ballgame, 10-9, midway through the period.
Importantly, Sydney were doing an excellent job containing Blaze superstar Mark Worthington, who was restricted to just a solitary basket in the first ten minutes, and a three point play from Kings’ captain, Julian Khazzouh, keyed a late 5-0 run to give the home team a well deserved 21-19 lead at the quarter time break.
The opening ninety seconds of the second period featured an individual battle between Khazzouh and Gold Coast pivot Hudson, who scored all their respective team’s points, and the Kings held a slender 25-24 advantage.
Khazzouh looked super aggressive in the early going and the Kings were looking for him every time down the floor, but the Blaze were getting a ton of open looks from their high post offence, and baskets to Gibson and Anthony Petrie tied the score at 28 with four minutes gone.
Sydney’s defence stiffened however, and a huge blocked shot from Jerai Grant made Gold Coast think twice about taking the ball inside – the Kings’ move to a zone also helped as the Blaze began to struggle from the perimeter. A tough jumper in the paint from Madgen and two free throws from Khazzouh gave the purple and gold their biggest lead of the game to that point, 34-28, with three minutes left till the half.
Deleon exploded with eight points in the final minute including a pair of threes, but the Kings weren’t to be denied as Grant hit a baseline jumper and Luke Martin went hard to the rack for the bucket to help Sydney maintain their lead.
Gold Coast forward Anthony Petrie snuck inside for a deuce at the halftime buzzer, but the home team went to the rooms with a 42-38 lead on the back of 56% shooting from the field and a 21-12 advantage on the glass, testament to Sydney’s overwhelming size advantage.
Bose opened the scoring in the second half with a three, and there were some anxious moments for the Blaze when Worthington went down hard on the play. He got up eventually, grimacing with pain, but Gibson helped some with a long range two to keep Gold Coast in touch.
Gibson was a one man wrecking crew, attacking the basket with serious intent, and when Worthington shook off his pain and buried a triple, the Blaze were on a 9-1 run and had regained the lead, 47-46, as Coach Robilliard called for time to stop the bleeding.
Unfortunately it didn’t help. Gibson continued his hot streak with a three pointer to the groans of the crowd, and thirty seconds later knocked down yet another trey for his twelfth point in five minutes to blow the margin out to 54-46 midway through the period.
The Blaze ripped off 15 straight points before Bose responded with a pair of free throws, but Gold Coast were flying, and Worthington scored in transition to make it a 17-2 blast in less than four minutes.
A spectacular behind the back pass from Luke Martin to Graeme Dann for the basket brought the fans to their feet, and Sydney’s terrific backup guard found Madgen for another score, but the problem was the Kings were suddenly failing to get stops and the Gold Coast was capitalising on every defensive breakdown.
Gibson drained another three to halt a Kings’ surge led by Martin and Madgen, and his stunning 15 point outburst in a period capped by a Deleon drive for the left-handed scoop shot saw the Blaze race to a 66-57 lead at the final break on the back of a 28-15 third quarter onslaught from the Gold Coast.
It took ninety seconds for the first basket of the final period – a drive by Madgen for two – but Deleon hit a jumper then streaked by Kevin Ratzsch for the easy deuce to make it 70-59 and things looked grim for the home team.
Gold Coast’s defence had been imposing in recent weeks and it rose to the occasion yet again, holding Sydney to just four points in five minutes, and the Kings burned a timeout to try and refocus as they faced an 11 point deficit with time slipping away.
Jerai Grant worked hard for a score inside coming out of the break, but Worthington swished a dagger three from the corner and when Gold Coast backup forward Tom Garlepp got an easy score with just over two minutes remaining, it was all over.
Bose knocked down a three to give the fans some last minute cheer, but Deleon used his sublime one on one skills to full effect and finished with a floater in the lane, Wortho jammed one home and Deleon finished it off with a three point play to put an exclamation point on an impressive second half performance from the Blaze.
