Sydney Kings nexus Shane Heal refused to use illness as an excuse for a lacklustre showing in his side's 22-point drubbing against Townsville in the second game of the NBL semi-finals on Wednesday night.

Team sources admitted Heal's participation was in major doubt right up to the eve of the game, the guard suffering the effects of a virus.

The usually reliable Heal surprised the pundits by hitting only one of seven three-pointers and contributing just 13 points for the game.

"I think a lot of people didn't appreciate that Shane Heal himself had been pretty crook in the lead-up to the game but most times, as he does, he doesn't say anything about it," Kings chief executive Grant Cadee said.

"So people just saw him be out of sorts a bit in that first half and just thought that he was poor just for being poor.

"He's pretty tough and competitive and he was pretty crook. There was a point the day before where we weren't even sure that he was going to play."

With the Kings' NBL Rookie of the Year, Gary Boodnikoff, ruled out of Wednesday's game with a neck injury, and with a number of players also reportedly feeling ill, the side enjoyed a less than perfect preparation.

"No one's going to be using that (excuse), they (the Crocodiles) played well," Heal told AAP.

"They won 16 games in a row and two years ago they were in a grand final and they've got the majority of the same players, only better."

Heal said Townsville's defence was instrumental in keeping both him and Chris Williams to only 11 and 12 shots for the game.

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