BOXSCORE

Adam Gibson awoke the Gold Coast Blaze from a first-half slumber to steamroll the Sydney Kings 84-72 in Sydney on Friday night.

After an indifferent first-half display, where the Blaze were in foul trouble and trailed by six points at the break, Gibson (17 points, 9 assists) exploded with 15 points and three assists in the third quarter.

“That’s what big-time players do,” Blaze coach Joey Wright said after the game.

“When things get tight we challenge our big players to do something and that's exactly what he did – he hit some big shots.”

Mark Worthington (12 points, 7 rebounds) sat out most of the second quarter but returned in the second half to wreak havoc, draining three-pointers at one end and blocking Kings shots at the other.

“It was pretty easy to bench Wortho in the first half because he was playing crap,” Wright said.

“It wasn’t one of his best games, he was off in Worthington world.”

Smooth-dribbling Blaze guard Adris Deleon (29 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds) was a constant menace, his outside shooting and control of the offence a struggle for Sydney to contain.

When Deleon and Worthington again hit from three-point range the Blaze led by 14 with just under two minutes left and the contest was over.

Despite being in such a promising position for most of the first half the Kings were unable to maintain that momentum for the entire game.

“We started well today, but they hit a good percentage,” Kings coach Ian Robilliard said. “It wasn’t that our defence was poor, it was a story of two halves.”

Jerai Grant, chief tormentor the last time these two sides met, had a tough night at the office offensively, while star centre Julian Khazzouh’s influence was fleeting, unfortunately for the strong Kingdome crowd.

Rising star Anatoly Bose (21 points) tried in vain to bring the home side back into contention, while Khazzouh (16 points, 9 rebounds) and Ben Madgen (14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) provided the best support.

“Gold Coast were always composed, even when they were losing, but when we went behind a bit of panic set in,” Bose said.

“We’re a young team and we’re learning as the games progress.”

Gold Coast Blaze 84 (Adris Deleon 29, Adam Gibson 17, Mark Worthington 12)
Sydney Kings 72 (Anatoly Bose 21, Julian Khazzouh 16, Ben Madgen 14)

Crowd: 5863 at Sydney Entertainment Centre.