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In one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Sydney Kings somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, going down by a point on the road to the Adealaide 36ers.
The 36ers pulled off the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in the history of 10-minute NBL quarters to take the win. They started the last quarter an incredible 18 points down, yet Jerome Randle inspired them to life.
The main reason the Kings were so far ahead was their first-quarter performance. Sydney came out of the gates firing, unable to miss from range, scoring more points in the first quarter than any other team this season.
The Kings went to quarter time with a 39-21 lead, with the likes of Marcus Thornton, Dion Prewster and Jason Cadee taking every shot possible from outside, as they knocked their first four of the game down.
Experienced big men Julian Kazzouh and Al Harrington kept their presence strong inside, and made the offence impossible to guard.
The second and third quarters were much more even; both teams played a real run-and-gun style, putting up a stack of shots with many of them falling. The scoring continued at a frantic pace, although every time the 36ers looked like they were going to come back, the Kings would push away again and keep the lead at around the 20-point mark.
But the final quarter was a different affair.
Randle lit up for the first time, with Anthony Petrie providing constant support, virtually having kept the 36ers in the game during the first three quarters.
Daniel Johnson and Ebi Ere also joined the party and knocked down some incredibly important shots.
Randle dished assists, drove into the paint, and scored a stack of points to end the game with 33. But despite the 36ers’ efforts, the Kings still held the lead into the last minute.
With 25 seconds to go, Harrington forced a crucial turnover, as Randle looked to drive into the paint. Marcus Thornton recovered the ball and went the length of the floor to get fouled. He would only shoot one of the ensuing free throws though, to give the Kings a one-point lead.
From the time out, the 36ers passed it around and controlled through Randle, who drove toward the right post and got fouled himself, before throwing up a shot.
The shot was ruled to not count, and Randle had two free-throws to win the game – or one to tie it – with 5.7 seconds on the clock.
The rest, as they say, is history. Randle made both free-throws and a half-court bomb didn’t go from Thornton.
It was the best game of the season to date, without a doubt. No one had a bad game, and the fans well and truly got their money’s worth.
The two teams are slated to play each other again next Thursday night in Sydney.
Final score
Adelaide 36ers 99
Sydney Kings 98
The last placed and badly struggling Sydney Kings go on the road to take on a below par, but still successful Adelaide 36ers in Round 5 of the 2015-16 NBL season. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:15pm (AEDT).
It’s been a season of woe so far for the Kings. Having played a total of eight games, they have only won two of them, and some of those six losses were by quite a margin.
Their two wins came in their opening game of the season, against the Cairns Taipans, and last week against fellow cellar-dwellers the Townsville Crocodiles.
Adding to Sydney’s problems are that have already had six home games, meaning out of their remaining 20 games – including this one – 12 are on the road.
Josh Childress, their star import, is also still out with injury and while Al Harrington has been signed to replace him he hasn’t had a real chance to impress yet.
In their last outing, the Kings went down to Melbourne United for the second time this year. They managed to stay in the fight, but at the same time were never really in the contest, going down 105-94. The best thing to take out of that game for Sydney is that they were able to put up plenty of points, however they need improvement on both ends of the floor.
The 36ers meanwhile find themselves fourth on the table. They have also played the equal-fewest games in the league, with six, having won three and lost three.
This leaves them in a solid position, yet the middle part of the table is very compact, with only a few games separating many teams.
Like the Kings, the 36ers have signed a new import in Jerome Randle, who has been brilliant so far.
Adelaide went down away from home on Thursday night to the New Zealand Breakers. The 10-point loss was the result of poor execution down the stretch, and that will add motivation for them to bounce back against the Kings.
Prediction
Adelaide is a tough road trip at the best of times and the Kings have been horribly out of form. Expect Randle to light it up and take the 36ers to a crushing win.
36ers by 17.
Join The Roar for live coverage of this match from 7:15pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to comment if you’re following along.