Sydney has escaped game one of its playoff series against Perth with a 105-104 victory.
The two sides went blow-for-blow in the fourth quarter as the big guns for each side came up clutch with neither able to build up a big enough lead to kick away.
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In a game that saw over 50 lead changes, Perth looked certain to edge their lead out to three inside the final three minutes, before Makuach Maluach produced one of the defensive plays of the season.
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr looked certain to jam home a dunk, before Maluach denied him at the rim and Kendric Davis immediately went down the floor and hit a huge three.
Davis (35 points, 5-7 3P) exploded with 14 in the term as the Kings looked to have done enough when they led by four inside the final minute.
But Kristian Doolittle (31 points) helped cut it back to one with an and-one, before a Sydney miss gave the visitors one last shot at victory.
Doolittle missed and another two tip-in attempts were waywards, much to the delight of the 10,132 in attendance at Qudos Bank Arena, with the Kings taking a 1-0 series lead as they look to wrap it up in Perth on Sunday.
Dylan Windler had to be helped off the floor after being down for over a minute with a potential foot injury suffered on the final possession. He has been dealing with a persistent plantar fascia concern.
“It doesn’t look good for Dylan Windler. He just walked through the corridors out of the arena with his arms around two Wildcats staffers, unable to put much weight on his foot,” ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reported.
RUST ON DISPLAY
There were always going to be question marks about how the Kings would start the contest after a farcical 19-day break between their final regular season game and first final.
To say there was early rust is an understatement.
Just one of their first seven shots dropped as the Wildcats raced out to an eight-point buffer.
The addition of Torrey Craig off the bench was timely as he dropped seven in the term, but David Duke Jr’s eight kept Perth ahead 24-22 through one.
NO LOVE LOST
Tensions flared between Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Tim Soares the last time these two teams met, and the Wildcats enforcer didn’t forget the Brazilian’s taunt.
JLA looked like a man on a mission in the first half to lead all Perth scorers with 11 points on 5-6 shooting
Despite uncharacteristic turnovers, the Kings rallied late in the second quarter with a Kendric Davis beating the buzzer and earning an and-one to lead 48-44.
SEEING RED
A pair of triples to start the third quarter saw Sydney open up a nine-point lead as they threatened to run away with it.
Enter Kristian Doolittle.
The All-NBL First Team player showed his class when his team needed it the most, exploding in the quarter with 17 points (7-9 FG) to inspire a 9-0 run and put Perth ahead by two heading into the final term..
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