A dominant display from the Cairns Taipans crushed the Sydney Kings 88-68 in Sydney on Friday night.

The Taipans' dominance was built on a solid foundation of strength under the boards and deadly perimeter shooting to which the Kings had no answer.

Taipans forward Alex Loughton (13 points) caught fire from three-point territory in the first half and smooth import Jamar Wilson (22 points, 4 assists) took over in the second.

“Alex and Jamar weren’t great last week, but they came out and looked sharp tonight – they responded and we needed that,” Taipans coach Aaron Fearne said.

“It was a focus to start on the right foot,” Loughton added.

“We wanted to make sure we made a solid start as a team and we did that. We started perfectly defensively and that set up our transition game.”

Shane Edwards (14 points) produced his best NBL game while athletic small forward Brad Hill (14 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists) was involved in all facets of the game.

Such was the Taipans' early dominance in the paint they only gave up two rebounds to the Kings in the entire first quarter.

Kings coach Shane Heal was blunt in his assessment of his team’s defensive frailties.

“We’ve got to look at our starting group, because our combinations aren’t working defensively,” he said.

“There were so many breakdowns tonight, and they were elementary breakdowns. It just can’t continue to happen.”

Kings guard Ben Madgen (a game-high 26 points) tried to keep  the home side in contention, sparking them into life in the second quarter with his sweet shooting.

When Tom Garlepp (8 points) blocked a shot at one end and then Madgen, again, scored off the resulting break, the Kings had their first lead of the game with five minutes left in the half.

But Loughton would again prove to be the thorn in the Kings’ side, draining another three-pointer as the period came to a close to give the Taipans a 10-point lead.

Things only got worse for the Kings after the break, the Taipans' outside shooting and rebounding dominance (38-24) showing no signs of abating as they unleashed a Wilson-inspired 19-2 run.

The strain was clearly showing on Heal, his technical foul opitimising the Kings' frustration.

As much as his charges tried to wrestle back control the damage had been done, and the Taipans held off Sydney's resurgent charge midway through the final quarter to end up easy 20-point winners. Despite a game-high points total, Madgen believes the team as a collective need to show more desire in future games to stop giving up easy points.

“The coaching staff gave us a great game plan, but we didn’t execute defensively,” Madgen said.

“It has a lot to do with desire and taking more accountable of not letting your guy score, but also helping out your teammates – it just seems like we’re not on the same page at the moment.”

Cairns Taipans 88 (Wilson 22, Edwards 14, Hill 14, Tragardh 14)
Sydney Kings 68 (Ben Madgen 26, Crosswhite 12, Garlepp 8)

Crowd: 4328 at Sydney Entertainment Centre