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Cairns Taipans vs Sydney Kings |
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|---|---|---|
2016/17 NBL Season, 9 November 2016 |
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| Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns, QLD | ||
| Cairns Taipans | Sydney Kings | |
| 78 | SCORE | 86 |
| 26 | Q1 | 16 |
| 19 | Q2 | 22 |
| 18 | Q3 | 17 |
| 15 | Q4 | 31 |
The Cairns Taipans will be out to improve their impressive home record when they host the league-leading Sydney Kings, who will be desperate to reverse the result from last time they visited the tropics. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the match from 7:30pm (AEDT).
With the league being about as close as it’s possible to be, the Taipans have done a remarkable job to be sitting inside the top four after losing all of their first three games this season.
A major part of their six and six record is the brilliant run of form they have had on home court though, where they have only lost one out of four.
The Taipans have become an incredibly formidable team to play on defence and they have been involved in a number of low-scoring games, being the lowest scoring team in the competition but also conceding the fewest points.
Given they already have a win against the Kings on their home floor this season, there is no understating the magnitude of playing at home for Cairns if they want to be in a position to reach the playoffs.
The Taipans spend the last five rounds playing doubles each leg of the way, making it an incredibly tough end to the season. If they can’t get ahead of the eight ball in the next three or four weeks, winning nearly every game they play in then the finals will be fast becoming a pipe dream.
With Travis Trice firing as he has been, putting up a few 30-point games and being backed up at the defensive end with the likes of Nate Jawai and the very in-form Mark Worthington, there is no reason the Taipans can’t stick to their grinding style.
The Kings, like many other teams, have struggled a little on the road this season despite currently sitting at the top of the tree with a record of nine wins and six losses.
As Andrew Gaze said following their last loss to Melbourne in Round 8, though, it’s simply not good enough to call yourself a contender and sit with that record.
The Kings answered in emphatic style though, with Brad Newley and Kevin Lisch once again driving the team as they stepped on court and came away with a six-point win in Wollongong against the Illawarra Hawks.
In what was a promising sign for the Kings, they had plenty of others contribute in big ways with Greg Whittington, Josh Powell and Tom Garlepp being the standouts.
If they can continue having more than just Lisch and Newley playing at the top of their ability on a consistent basis then the men in purple will be hard to beat.
This match is really a battle of conflicting styles, though, given the Taipans like a low-scoring game and the Kings a high-scoring one.
Prediction
It’s hard to see the high-flying Kings losing both their road games to the Taipans this season.
Kings by 2.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this Round 10 fixture from 7:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde