Xavier Cooks return from injury wasn’t enough to will Sydney over the line as the Taipans stunned the NBL champions in overtime.
CAIRNS has manufactured a miracle come-from-behind 94-88 victory to end the Kings’ historic winning run on the road at 17 straight victories.
Trailing by 10 at the final break and eight with just over three minutes left, the Taipans surged on the back of a rabid Cairns Convention Centre to shock the Kings – and knock the defending champions off the top of the ladder.
DJ Hogg recovered from one-of-10 from the field to produce the play of the game, landing a massive three to lock up the score with just seven seconds to force overtime.
Two of NBL23’s pacesetters traded massive threes in the dying minutes of overtime as Cairns put an exclamation mark on a famous Snakepit win.
Kings star Xavier Cooks showed why he is considered an early MVP candidate as Sydney built a game-high 14-point lead midway through the last.
In his first game back since an ankle injury, Cooks proved too hot to handle for the Cairns defence as he racked up 25 points and 10 rebounds – before fouling out with more than three minutes left on the clock.
The Kings led by eight when Cooks left the court, and the absence of the NBL22 Grand Final MVP gave Cairns the lift they needed to force the round 8 fixture into extras.
Derrick Walton Jr (14), Angus Glover (16) and Dejan Vasilijevic (10) hit double figures for the Kings.
Sydney remains the true road warriors of the NBL, as the Chase Buford side notched up its 18th consecutive win away from home – the longest streak in history.
For Cairns, it is the type of win which could give the players – and the fans – the belief that they are genuinely among this league’s best.
Keanu Pinder was a shining light for the home side, as the recent Boomers debutant led the scoring with a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a sensational outing.
Tahjere McCall also produced his best performance since returning from a knee injury, with 18 points, while DJ Hogg’s 20-bomb featured several crucial buckets before he fouled out.
Bul Kuol hit 12 points.
The battle between Cooks and Pinder was worth the price of admission alone.
Both part of Boomers squads in recent time, the duo put their side on their respective backs to drag them out of the fire and back into the contest.
Cooks scored the Kings’ first six points and was first to double figures on his way to 25 points in a commanding reminder of his talents.
The 27-year-old missed three weeks of action – but just one game – and, before the stint on the sideline, had average a career-high 16.3 points per game and 4.1 assists.
Meanwhile Pinder showed – yet again – why he is so integral to the success of this Taipans.
The Snakes trailed by one at the first break, but Pinder took matters into his own hands halfway through the second term.
He played to his strengths, driving to the basket and drawing fouls for fun in a 12-point term to put his team on top against the league leaders.
Both men are in the early MVP conversation, and while Cooks won this battle, Pinder is not far behind.
He was one of 10 from the field early and kept quiet by the Breakers, but DJ Hogg stuck with the process and ended up producing the biggest play of the game.
Hogg has been one of the key men for the Taipans this season, proving time and again how good of a find he is for Taipans coach Adam Forde.
He found his groove in the second half of the contest, then came into his own in a 12-point fourth quarter to force the game into extras.
This was viewed as a double header in which the Taipans could learn exactly where they stand in this competition.
Cairns hosted the top two teams in the competition in the span of just four days, and there is no doubt coach Adam Forde will take plenty out of both contests.
The loss against NZ was rough, but Monday’s win against the Kings might just give Cairns the confidence it needs to believe they are a contender.
And the best part for Cairns is that there’s plenty of time left in this season, giving Cairns enough time to learn from the experience ahead of a hopeful finals run.
Both sides will return to the court against Adelaide this week.
The Taipans travel to South Australia to face the 36ers on Friday, with the Kings to host Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.
Man-of-the-moment Mitch Creek was at his menacing best in his 300th NBL game as his South East Melbourne Phoenix enjoyed a landslide 112-78 victory over lowly Illawarra Hawks on state election weekend at John Cain Arena.
Creek had 27 points and six rebounds in a typically dominant display on Sunday, but the Phoenix did it more by committee than having to rely on their star man with a quadruple attacking threat emerging to prove impossible to stop for the bottom-of-the-ladder Hawks.
Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell does not usually buy into the hype surrounding a milestone game, but he felt this was different because of what Creek means to the club.
“He’s the heart and soul of the joint since the moment he put pen to paper,” Mitchell said.
“I‘m not a big milestone guy, but I know the team won it for him today.
“That was a real show of the respect that his teammates have for him.”
Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas was left disappointed by the lack of “buy in” from his team on the defensive end.
“It was our worst defensive effort by far … we‘re not that,” he said.
One bright spot for Jackomas was the debut showing of American import Michael Frazier II.
While Frazier played his role off the bench to perfection with 17 points, it perhaps created an unfamiliarity of team cohesion and threw their team balance out of whack.
But Frazier‘s arrival will be beneficial in the long term.
“Obviously it‘s his first game and there’s some chemistry stuff we have to deal with,” Jackomas said.
“What‘s the great thing about him right now is because he’s a talented American he doesn’t really give us a lot of excuses now.
“It puts us in the forefront where what we did tonight was totally unacceptable.” The Phoenix have solidified their place among the powerhouse teams in the competition, improving to 7-5 on the season, while the Hawks slumped to 1-10 on the back of a nine-game losing streak.
A first half blitz was the impetus for a Phoenix win.
While the Hawks rattled off 11 consecutive points in the first quarter, a time-out from Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell arrested the slide and it was all one-way traffic thereafter as the Phoenix turned it around to lead by 16 at the half.
The second half was more of the same with the Phoenix going in for the kill, sparked by a 30-20 third period.
The fourth quarter was rendered ‘junk food’ time as the Phoenix fans received free doughnuts when they hit 100 points.
Quadruple Threat
The Hawks could not contain the Phoenix‘s quadruple offensive threat.
Creek, centre Alan Williams (21 points), combo guard Trey Kell (24) and forward Ryan Broekhoff (15) all had double figure points by half time.
It all clicked on the back of import guard Gary Browne, who set it all up for the Phoenix with eight assists to go with 11 points.
Willo‘s World
Williams was a beast in the paint for the Phoenix.
The import centre was so much of a nuisance under the hoop that he had the Hawks defenders falling over themselves trying to stop him.
On one play, the American drove to the basket and Hawks centre Mangok Mathiang and guard Peyton Siva collided with each other trying to stop him.
Williams also drew the ire of Hawks opponent Deng Deng, landing a hip-and-shoulder into Deng‘s ribs and leaving the visiting big none-too-pleased.
To go with his 21 points, Williams had 12 rebounds and three steals.
Hawks bright spot
It was a hot start for import Michael Frazier II on debut for the Hawks with 17 points.
The guard came in off the bench early for Peyton Siva, who picked up two early fouls, and immediately scored on his first shot attempt.
He showed off his long range shooting with a big three shortly after and had a team-high 11 points by the half.
Tyler Harvey fought it out for the Hawks with 17 points.
Late out
The popular Kyle Adnam‘s 200th NBL game had to be delayed due to a knee sprain.
A game-time decision, Adnam could not get up for the big game at the Fire Pit.
Adnam‘s next chance for game 200 will come when the Phoenix travel to New Zealand to play the Breakers on Thursday night.
Scoreboard
South East Melbourne Phoenix 112 d Illawarra Hawks 78
Phoenix
Mitch Creek: 26 points, six rebounds
Alan Williams: 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals
Gary Browne: 11 points, eight assists
Trey Kell III: 24 points
Hawks
Michael Frazier II: 17 points
Tyler Harvey: 17 points
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New Zealand have continued their incredible form away from home with a convincing 82-71 win over the Taipans in Cairns.
From young men with dreams of making it big to foundation members of a new NBL franchise, the mateship between Kyle Adnam and Mitch Creek extends beyond any milestone.
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