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Josh Childress was back on court for the Sydney Kings with a double – double at the WIN Entertainment Centre, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Kirk Penney led Illawarra Hawks from recording a much needed six point victory.
The win moves the Hawks to a record of five wins and six losses, but more importantly puts them back within touching distance of the top four. For the Kings though, the season of woe continues, as they slump to a three wins and nine loss record, leaving them stamped to the bottom of the ladder.
The game between the Hawks and the Kings though was a very entertaining, and for the most part high scoring. After a slow start, both teams ended up registering more than 90 points, which was expected coming into the game.
While man of the match Penney, is typically known for his shooting – which was still excellent throughout the game, it was his passing and assist count that really stood out. He finished with 24 points and eight assists but was backed up well by AJ Ogilvy who’s inside presence was again massive.
For the Kings, Childress struggled to receive any support. He was incredible on the boards, and his scoring was good, but inconsistent, which is scary to say when you think about the fact he still made 20 points.
The game was even the whole way, and there wasn’t much splitting the two sides right throughout the game. Both teams did look like pulling away with the game on a few occasions, however would always be pulled back in quick time.
The Hawks came flying out of the gates, having a six point lead at the mid-way point of the first quarter. Kirk Penney was hitting everything he looked at early on, and the Kings defence had no answers. Making it worse the Kings looked stagnant in offence.
That was, until Marcus Thornton – who arguably played his best game in Kings colours tonight kicked into gear. He knocked down two three pointers, and was fouled on one to score seven points in the space of 60 seconds and put the Kings back in the lead.
The Hawks recovered to lead by two at half time, however the Kings started the second quarter strongly racing away to a nine point lead. That though, was short-lived as the Hawks pushed their way back to the lead by half time.
The Kings had the better of the third quarter as Julian Kazzouh started to get going, however they still went into the last period of play a point down on the Hawks.
From there, the Hawks took over the game in the final quarter for the most part, with the combination between Kevin Lisch, Kirk Penney and AJ Ogilvy lighting the game up.
Oscar Forman chipped in with some massive buckets, while Jarrad Weeks was always a danger with the ball.
The Hawks certainly won’t be happy with the win, but their defence and rebounding certainly improved on previous outings and it was enough to get them over the line against the Kings.
The Hawks now hang around at home to play the Crocodiles on Saturday Night, while the Kings have a long rest before travelling to Cairns next Friday.
Final Score:
Illawarra Hawks 96
Sydney Kings 90
The Sydney Kings are running out of time to get their season into gear and there would be no better time to do it than when they travel south and take on the Illawarra Hawks in the all New South Wales derby, with Josh Childress making his return. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:15pm (AEDT).
It’s been over a month since one of the NBL’s best players Josh Childress stepped on the court for the Kings, but he makes his long anticipated return against the Hawks with the Kings season right on the edge.
Childress coming back into the side means replacement import Al Harrington will no longer be playing, putting the pressure on Childress to perform immediately.
The Kings go into this game having played a total of 11 games, and are currently pinned to the bottom of the ladder having only won three. This leaves them a long way out of the current top four, and badly needing to go on a streak of victories if they are to make the playoffs come the end of the season.
The biggest problem for the Kings is that there is no one area of their game that you can pinpoint and say needs improving. It is an all round effort that needs improvement, and they will be hoping Childress can provide some of that spark. They have also been far too reliant on three-point shooting, despite having Julian Kazzouh in the paint.
For the Hawks, they are another team who enjoy shooting the three ball. Like the Kings they have an incredibly good centre roaming the paint in AJ Ogilvy, but like Kazzouh he doesn’t receive any support from the rest of the Hawks outfit. With the likes of Kirk Penney, Tim Coenraad, Kevin Lisch and Oscar Forman who are all brilliant three point shooters though, it hasn’t horribly effected them.
They come into this game sitting one place out of the current top four, holding a record of four wins and six losses. The Hawks, while looking better than the Kings, have a challenging run through the back end of the season having played the equal least games in the competition, making every game slightly more important in case they go on a run of losses due to fatigue.
Prediction: This shapes as one of the shoot outs of the season. Both teams have been firing behind the arc, however the Hawks should just have the edge in other areas of their game.
Hawks by 11.
Join The Roar for live coverage of the opening match in round eight from 7:15pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to leave a comment in the section below if you’re following along with the action.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde