Cooks turns up the heat

One week is a short time in the NBL and the Sydney Kings are walking proof of that.

Last week, they were reeling after back-to-back losses to South East Melbourne and Tasmania. But fast forward to now and the Kings are the talk of the league after a pair of road wins in Round 7.

They first smashed Brisbane on their home floor, before sending a statement around the league by defeating Melbourne United and ending their unbeaten 9-0 start to the Hungry Jack's NBL26 season.

A big part of that has been unlocking NBL23 MVP Xavier Cooks, who averaged 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists across the two wins while shooting 60 per cent from the free-throw line.

All of these are much higher than his season numbers and 2009 NBL champion Mark Worthington believes the 30-year-old is starting to rediscover the form that saw him sign a deal with NBA franchise the Washington Wizards.

"I was the one that scouted Xavier to go to Washington and in that MVP season, he was super-aggressive in all his movements," Worthington said on Tuesday's episode of NBL Now.

"He started the offence with his transition and we saw that in both games on the weekend.

"It [the Kings play] all starts for me with the aggression of Xavier and getting him into the game early because it does open up all the other avenues for different players."

Worthington's sentiments are correct, with Sydney's Kendric Davis scoring a season-high 34 points in the three-point win.

Not to be outdone, South Sudanese Olympian Bul Kuol had his best game of the season on Monday night, to the tune of 17 points (on 5/5 from the field), 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 dimes.

The Kings, who are now 5-5, next host the Breakers at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday, tipping off at 4.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN and 10 DRAMA.