Sydney Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah was as animated as anyone had seen him when he called a time-out in the second quarter of the NBL match against South East Melbourne Phoenix at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
It was early doors but the Kings were streaky, appeared casual, and when an offensive rebound was on offer, it was like the ball had spiders on it.
Abdelfattah stabbed fingers at his men, stared at them with bug eyes, and exchanged words with Denzel Valentine as the guard jogged back into play.
The rocket seemed to be what the Kings needed when an 8-2 run followed. Abdelfattah then flexed his right biceps and challenged his team to “build a wall” before successfully reviewing a call against his team.
None of it mattered a jot to Phoenix and their best player, Mitch Creek.
With Creek and Alan ‘Sauce’ Williams (21 points, 15 rebounds) dominating, and their defence apparently inspired by the loss of two key men, the visitors ran out victors 104-94 in front of 13,097 stunned spectators.
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HOT SAUCE
“Williams and Creek are doing whatever they want,” Kings assistant coach Fleur McIntyre observed at halftime. “We’ve got to be way more physical, way more urgent and start sending bodies at them. They are killing us one-on-one.”
It was third versus fifth according to the NBL ladder, the visitors going in after a season-ending knee injury to Craig Moller and the sacking of import Will Cummings.
Yet the Phoenix came out hot, with Williams raining bombs and scoring 18 points in the first half.
In a frenetic first quarter the Kings gave up six fouls, 10 free-throws and 32 points, while shooting 12 of 19 from the field, despite some athletic incursions from Jaylin Galloway who finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
UP THE CREEK
The game took a turn when Williams incurred his fourth foul, three minutes into the third quarter, when an errant elbow caught Jordy Hunter in the cheekbone.
Yet it only fired up Phoenix and Creek whose shooting, including a booming three-pointer, saw his team out to an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Phoenix coach Mike Kelly took a risk by putting Williams back in the game with two minutes left in the third quarter. The big man immediately made two rebounds and two points – and didn’t foul out.
Yet it continued to be Creek that Phoenix went to, the all-action man finishing with a game-high 33 points.
“It’s a massive week for the club, Creek said. “We made a tough decision this week in getting rid of a great man and a great player. We had a line in the sand moment of what we want off court and on court. And backs against the wall [enjoyed] a massive, massive win.”
NUMBERS MEN
The league’s leading three-point man, Jaylin Adams, made two from six from outside while Valentine landed four three-pointers from nine attempts, several of them from way outside the ‘D’.
Jonah Bolden was the Kings’ best with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while it was odd to see Kings’ talisman Angus Glover receive so few minutes (10:49).
— Lance Jenkinson
Three minutes of Chris Goulding mayhem turned what was a close-fought contest into a blowout as ladder-leaders Melbourne United romped to a 103-68 win over Brisbane Bullets at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
Goulding, featuring in his 250th game for United, absolutely terrorised the Bullets from the 5.24 to the 2.41 mark of the second period, reeling off five threes, before finishing with 21 points, including seven threes.
It was not a case of missed Bullets defensive assignments either, the 35-year-old just knocked down some incredibly tough contested shots.
A one-basket game quickly turned into a double digits lead for United and they powered on to improve to 11-3 on the season and maintain their advantage at the top of the NBL ladder.
United has beaten the Bullets in 10 consecutive meetings.
The Bullets raced to a 16-8 lead, but lost their way after quarter time as they slumped to 7-8 on the season, a backwards step after two consecutive wins.
Having won the first half in each of their past eight games, it was no shock to see the Bullets pushing the pace early.
The visitors made it a chaotic start with their up tempo style, putting the United defence on the back foot.
Sam McDaniel had eight first quarter points, but faded to finish with 12.
There was a scary moment when the always reckless Luke Travers, who has missed time with concussion for United this season, toppled over McDaniel and landed heavily, but both players got up.
United cannot afford to lose Travers again, who offers so much at both ends and finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Tyrell Harrison made an impressive start to his 100th game with a reverse jam and featured in a mouth-watering paint battle with United big man Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.
IC RELAUNCH
The tide started to turn late in the first period when veteran United guard Ian Clark, returning from a hamstring injury, drained two threes.
Clark was impactful with 14 points.
While United’s defensive pressure ramped up at the start of the second, courtesy of some hard-nosed defence from Kyle Bowen and Ariel Hukporti, United also caught fire from long range to go from trailing at quarter time to leading by a massive 17 by half time.
IGNITION SWITCH
The lethal Goulding flicked the switch that left the Bullets yearning for half time.
In the first half alone, Goulding had 18 points, including six-from-eight from beyond the arc.
United solidified its lead in the third with Matthew Dellavedova as the court general.
There was a slight concern for Bowen, who went to the bench with a dead arm, but he returned to continue his defensive presence.
Bullets veteran Aron Baynes had a running battle with the referees all game and after his fourth he gave the referee an earful, a sign of the frustration that has crept in for his team.
MILESTONES GALORE
It was not only Goulding and Harrison celebrating milestones, Victorian-born Bullets captain Nathan Sobey celebrated his 250th NBL game in front of family and friends in his home state.
Sobey has evolved into one of the premier combo guards in the competition, but had a rough shooting game with 12 points on 4-from-15 from the field.
NBL SCOREBOARD
Melbourne United 103 (Goulding 21 Travers 16 Clark 14 Dellavedova 14d Brisbane Bullets 68 (McDaniel 12 Sobey 12 Harrison 10)
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne
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