The Sydney Kings face the prospect of a sudden-death NBL play-in game against Adelaide next Wednesday without former league MVPs Xavier Cooks and Jaylen Adams after a humbling 95-75 loss to arch rivals Illawarra in Wollongong on Friday night.
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Already secure in top spot on the ladder for the first time in their 47-year NBL history, the Hawks completed a 4-0 season series sweep of the Kings — their first in 10 years — to relegate Sydney to fifth position and an eliminator against the 36ers next Wednesday.
It was Sydney’s third straight loss to end the regular season and the Kings (16-13) could be without Adams for the must-win game against Adelaide if he rejects an early plea for eye-gouging, while Cooks could be missing too.
Adams was ejected in the final minutes of the 20-point blow-out due to an ugly incident with Illawarra’s Wani Swaka Lo Buluk.
Adams poked the player in the face after they became tangled up under the basket with less than four minutes remaining and the Hawks leading 83-71.
The play was reviewed, Adams incurred a disqualifying foul, and he was sent to the locker-room.
After an investigation, the NBL confirmed on Saturday that Adams had been charged with “eye gouging or unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the eye region”.
“The incident has been determined as intentional, low impact and high contact resulting in a one-game suspension or a $1550 fine with an early plea,” the statement said.
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Kings coach Brian Goorjian said he only found out two hours before leaving for the game that Cooks would not be playing against his former club but would not shed any light as to why.
Goorjian said he had “no idea” whether Cooks would be available to suit up against Adelaide.
“I’m just respecting his privacy right now,” Goorjian said.
The coach was pleased with the effort his under-manned and under-sized outfit produced for three quarters against “the best team in it right now” and was now focused on a complete performance against Adelaide to keep their season alive.
“High road, I thought we battled hard for three-quarters, and just got over-ran in the fourth,” Goorjian said.
“They’re the best team in it right now. I know they’re missing a couple of guys, as are we … but their depth, their size, perimeter, their pace, they just got on top of us in the fourth and there was not enough avenues to go down to get back in the game.
“… We’re eating humble pie right now. We’ve been slapped around the face three straight times, but let’s see what happens. We’re in the play-offs, we’ve got a game on Wednesday, let’s see where it takes us, but it’s a hard one to swallow tonight.”
Even had they lost to Sydney, the Hawks were assured of first place and a 21-day break before starting their semi-final series in Wollongong.
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But coach Justin Tatum said his players had adopted a relentless mentality to sweep the Kings, finish the regular season 20-9 and head into the play-offs with winning momentum.
Tatum had the luxury of resting injured stars Trey Kell III (hip/groin) and Darius Days (hamstring), but they still had too much firepower for the Kings as five players scored in double figures.
“I’m really excited about these guys, the way they played, not just today but the whole season,” Tatum said.
“We could’ve laid down today. We could’ve just sat there, took a break and let Sydney do what they needed to do, and it wasn’t about that.
“We wanted to make sure that we came out here and played our best, and I think we played better than our best …”
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