Kings tame Taipans in NBL25 Blitz opener

The Sydney Kings have opened their NBL25 Blitz campaign with a commanding 99-77 victory over the Cairns Taipans at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre on Monday.

Match summary 

Xavier Cooks marked the Kings’ first basket of the NBL25 Blitz with a vicious two-handed dunk, which was quickly followed by an Izayah Le’afa triple. More scoring from the latter and former Taipan Bul Kuol saw the Hoops Capital side up 13-4. Although Brian Goorjian’s side had bench contributions from Makuach Maluach, Cam Oliver, Jaylin Galloway and Kouat Noi, the Snakes ended the term on a 9-6 to make it 27-23 at quarter-time.

In the second, the harbour city side scored eight of the first 11 points of the term to extend their lead to nine early in the period. Cairns’ Rob Edwards was doing what he could to keep the game close, with numerous tough buckets but long-range bombs by Le’afa and Tyler Robertson got their opponents at bay. Inside scores by Keli Leaupepe and Oliver followed – with a one-handed slam by Jaylin Galloway capping the strong half by the Kings, who led 56-45 at the break.

Le’afa’s hot shooting from downtown continued after the interval, with the Tall Blacks international nailing two more. Galloway and Maluach’s athleticism on both ends of the floor was causing issues for Cairns, as the purple and gold maintained their double-digit lead. Oliver was also making an impact on offence, with numerous rebounds and a triple. At the end of three, Sydney led by 16.

An 11-5 run in the fourth behind driving lay-ups by Cooks and Kuol extended the five-time NBL champions’ advantage. The latter joined in on the three-point party, nailing numerous shots from downtown. A huge Oliver alley-oop was mixed in for good measure and the Kings cruised to a 99-77 win on Monday, to open their NBL25 Blitz account.

Where the match was decided 

The purple and gold secured the win thanks to dominant statistical victories in field goal percentage (47-32), three-pointers (18-9), rebounds (25-18), steals (12-7) and bench points (47-17) – while producing fewer turnovers (20-14).

Key moment  

The Kings’ defensive prowess was on full display in the third, with the likes of Kuol, Maluach and Galloway patrolling the passing lanes and making it hard for Cairns to get into their action – which led to numerous fast-break scores.

Player of the game 

Lea’afa was the star of the show, nailing seven triples on his way to 21 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.

Others to shine in the triumph were Oliver (16 points, 12 rebounds and five dimes), Kuol (16 points, four boards and three assists) and Maluach (11 points).