Bullets suffer harbour city thrashing
A weary Brisbane Bullets outfit suffered its second thrashing in the harbour city in the space of eight days when the Sydney Kings came away with a 120-99 NBL win at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
The Kings led from the outset, establishing a 21-point halftime lead, which they maintained and built on through the last two quarters, thanks mainly to some stingy defence and some hot shooting from guard Jason Smith, who scored a game-high 23 points on 5 of 6 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
The Kings as a team were on fire from three point range, shooting 16 from 34 from downtown, while the Bullets shot at a miserable 32 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from three-point range.
For the Bullets, the loss follows up their 31-point thrashing at the hands of West Sydney last Saturday night, and now leaves the pre-season favourites with a 1-4 (win-loss) record and in last spot on the table.
The Kings, now 3-1, got an early spark when Brian Goorjian inserted little-used back-up guard Luke Martin, who combined with rookie playmaker Luke Kendall with good effect at both the offensive and defensive ends.
The two Lukes harassed the Bullets guards all the way up the court, with Kendall picking up three steals in the first quarter.
At the other end, the two were on target from the perimeter, both knocking down a pair of long bombs as the Kings took a 32-24 lead at the first break.
The Kings turned up the defensive pressure even more in the second and third term as the lead ballooned out to 32 points, as they continued to keep star import duo Bobby Brannen and Kevin Freeman quiet.
The two combined for a total of 22 points for the night on 8 of 21 shooting, and neither really made any impact for the visitors.
If it wasn't for guards Derek Rucker (17 points) and Stephen Black (18 points), who tried valiantly to keep the Bullets in the game, the scoreline could have been even worse.
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.