Tip-off: Sunday, January 6, 2pm (local), State Netball & Hockey Centre, Melbourne

Broadcast: Ten, 2pm (local); NBL.TV

Last time they met: Sydney 72 (Madgen 26, Bruce 13, Crosswhite 11) d Melbourne 67 (Flynn 17, Ballinger 15), Round 7, Hisense Arena

The story
While one popular theory is to run a tired opponent off their legs, Chris Anstey is looking at Sunday’s game against a battle-weary Sydney Kings a little differently.

“I think the longer you can make a team play defence the better off you are,” he said.

The Kings will finish their home game against Adelaide at approximately 9:30pm on Saturday before fronting up in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, and Anstey wants his team to be fast but patient to exploit their opponents’ fatigue wherever cracks may appear.

“We certainly don’t want to be quick-shooting the ball just for the sake of it,” he said.

“We want to get the ball up the floor very quickly, but if there is nothing on we want to make them play defence for long periods of time.”

Getting the ball up the floor at all has been an issue for the Tigers in the first two Capital City Clash meetings this season, with the Kings pinching both games thanks to their third-quarter 2-2-1 fullcourt press.

It was particularly embarrassing for the Tigers on their home floor in Round 7. With the newly-arrived Jonny Flynn repeatedly denied the ball and unable to switch to the shooting guard position, Melbourne barely ran a halfcourt set in the second half.

Flynn has since made the adjustment and Chris Goulding stepped up his playmaking and ball protection, but Anstey wants a more professional team approach to Sydney’s pressure this time around to back up from the Tigers’ cool showing down the stretch against Wollongong.

“Patience and structure. We have to aggressively break it but in the structure we have,” he said.

“We have to be a lot more disciplined, make sure we remain focused on what we are trying to get done as a team rather than fighting five individual battles on the floor.”

The stats
In their two third quarters against Sydney this season the Tigers have coughed up 15 turnovers and been out-scored 56-33.

Melbourne lost those games to the Kings by a total of just eight points despite having 26 less scoring opportunities.

Sydney have been held to 39 per cent shooting in their games against Melbourne despite picking up 40 easy points from turnovers.

Since Jonny Flynn’s arrival Melbourne have averaged  13 turnovers per game, right on the league average. Prior to that they were committing 19.4 per game.

When the Kings lose, Corin Henry averages 7.0 points at 34 per cent and has only 1.1 assists for every turnover. In wins those numbers are 17.3 at 44 per cent and 1.4 assists per turnover.

The wrap
This game will tell the tale of how far Melbourne have progressed, because twice Sydney’s pressing defence has left them without a solution.

Sydney have struggled to score in the halfcourt in both games against Melbourne, but whether they can play at a faster tempo backing up so soon after playing Adelaide remains to be seen.

The Tigers will struggle to match-up with Ben Madgen’s speed at small forward, but Seth Scott’s re-emergent form at the centre position could stretch Sydney’s defence and force Ian Crosswhite to vacate the paint, leaving space for Flynn and Goulding to attack.

While Sydney will back their defence to again trouble the Tigers, the challenge of backing up after such a short turnaround may prove too much.

Prediction: Tigers by 3

The Melbourne Tigers recorded a spirited up-and-down 74-71 win over the Sydney Kings at The Cage on Sunday afternoon.

Taking the court little more than 16 hours after beating the Adelaide 36ers in Sydney on Saturday night, the Kings were impressive in defeat and showed they physically have what it takes to go the distance in 2013.

The Tigers were led by the outside shooting of Chris Goulding (18 points), the inside-outside game of Adam Ballinger (13 points), and the point guard play of Jonny Flynn (11 points, 9 assists).

Goulding spoke of the importance of slowing down Madgen after a 30-point performance the night before.

“He is obviously a big piece of the puzzle that we had to take care of. He’s one of those guys that has a bad one and still has 16 points.”

Madgen led Sydney with 16 points but committed six turnovers, while Darnell Lazare (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Aaron Bruce (15 points).

Kings head coach Shane Heal downplayed the importance of one game, reiterating his focus on the bigger picture.

“If our season comes down to a head-to-head with Melbourne, we’ll be shattered,” Heal said.

“This weekend was about consolidating top three, not bringing ourselves into a battle with (the Tigers). They’ve put a championship-caliber team together and they haven’t been on the road too much so that’ll be a good test for them.”

Melbourne rode the defensive ferocity of Tommy Greer early, getting the sell-out crowd going with a 7-2 lead before the Kings went to an active zone that stunted their rhythm and spacing.

Stringing together 12 straight points behind big men Lazare and Ian Crosswhite (9 points), the Kings were only slowed by the Tigers’ own zone and went into the first break up 22-19.

Jumping to a quick double-digit lead early in the second period, Sydney went perimeter with Madgen and Bruce taking on the hot hand of Goulding as the Kings grabbed a one-point lead at the major break.

The third quarter was peppered with memorable plays and scrappy transition offence, as Flynn found his teammates on the break and used the middle on-ball screen to give the home team the three-quarter-time lead.

When Nate Tomlinson threw an exquisite behind-the-back pass to Bennie Lewis for the jam to open the final term the crowd reached fever pitch.

In the desperate final minutes Lucas Walker was throwing his body around the floor, Corin Henry (11 points, 7 rebounds) breaking traps like a running back and Seth Scott (11 points, 9 rebounds) playing the enforcer and spectacularly finishing around the basket.

Emotions peaked with two minutes remaining and a four-point Tigers lead as Madgen used a chair behind the baseline to show his frustration at not getting a call.

The Tigers responded with composure and were carried  to their third consecutive win by some clutch Goulding free-throw shooting and a sunny Melbourne crowd.

“We have to find a group of guys that can help us win games of basketball, and we feel we’re heading towards that,” Tigers coach Chris Anstey said, looking forward to next week.

“I think we’ve played less games than anyone else, with plenty of area to get better. I like the idea of getting out on the road, and there’s no bigger challenge in the NBL than taking on Perth over there.”

Melbourne Tigers 74 (Goulding 18, Ballinger 13, Flynn 11, Scott 11)
Sydney Kings 71 (Madgen 16, Bruce 15, Lazare 13)

Crowd: 3500 at State Netball & Hockey Centre, Melbourne