A camera trained on a laptop was floated as an unlikely hero as the NBL’s round 10 clash between Cairns and the Kings ground to a halt on Thursday.
But a gentlemen’s agreement between the teams to play without a shot clock has won out in an extraordinary night in the NBL.
The shot clocks at both ends went out as the teams completed their warm-up ahead of the second half, with crews working frantically to address the issue.
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The stoppage lasted 50 minutes before play resumed.
Teams remained on court, with players from opposing sides seen chatting courtside, though the majority of players were putting up shots.
The longer the stoppage went, the fewer remained, as officials scrambled for a solution.
NBL CEO Dave Stephenson, who was at the game with NBA scouts, addressed the issue on the broadcast, revealing how a clock on a laptop would become the saviour of the first game of the DC Multiverse Round.
“We’ve had a whole lot of power challenges tonight, looks like a circuit breaker is gone, so they’re working their way through it,” he said on the ESPN broadcast on Foxtel.
“We’ve got an innovative model.
“We’re trying to put a camera on a laptop screen which will give a shot clock and a timer, and get that up on the big (screen), then at least the players will know how much time is left.
“We’ll work our way through it, I think we’ll be fine, but it’s part of the joys of live sport.
“They’re professionals, they’ll come back, it will get through the second half and it will all be fine.”
That solution was not ultimately needed, as both teams agreed to play on without a shot clock.
The two-time defending champion Kings lead 48-37 at the break, with the Taipans slowly working their way back into the contest.
The Kings romped to a 33-15 lead by the end of the first quarter, as poor shooting by Cairns – a measly 33 per cent from the field, including 0-from-12 from three – bringing the offence to a standstill.
Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah said it was a career-first.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like this, but we just have to go with the flow,” Abdelfattah said.
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