The Sydney Kings almost managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but survived to hold off a fast-finishing Illawarra Hawks 88-84 in Wollongong.
All eyes were on Kings captain Kevin Lisch, last year’s MVP with Illawarra. He was met with constant booing with every touch of the ball and even received the odd chant of “you sold out”.
The Olympian had the last laugh, scoring 20 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists, including the final dime to Brad Newley which sealed the game.
It gave Andrew Gaze his win first as a head coach, a tally he’ll be looking to double when Sydney hosts Cairns.
“To me, I’m more happy for the players,” he said post-game.
“I get excited with their joy and their excitement as players, because I know what they’ve been through.”
“It was more relief for me that they got the win in a very tough environment against a great team. I just want these players to enjoy the experience.”
The Hawks and Rotnei Clarke drew first blood, with the import scoring eight points early on as the hosts raced out to a 16-8 lead inside the first five minutes. However, a strong finish to the quarter from Jason Cadee and Brad Newley saw the game shift back to the visitors, as they trailed by 23-22 at the first break.
The home side started strong in the second, with AJ Ogilvy proving a handful in the paint, before foul trouble forced him to the sidelines. The quarter swung back and forth, with both sides trading the lead, before Cody Ellis nailed a buzzer beater to send the Hawks up 50-48 at half-time.
Two-time NBA champion Josh Powell made his mark in the third term, scoring 10 points, including eight of those during as 12-4 run which saw the Kings lead 72-61 heading into the final term. The Hawks had no answers for the defensive unit of the visitors, scoring just 12 points for the quarter.
It was Powell again that helped stretch the lead out to 11 early in the last period, before it looked like the ‘Violet Crumbles’ of old would make a return. Early fouls on the Kings and a 9-1 scoring run got the Hawks back to within three with more than six minutes remaining.
From here, it looked like momentum would be enough to get the Hawks over the line, before Lisch showed why Sydney didn’t blink an eye before snapping him up in the off-season, dropping a big three, followed by a lay-up to give the Kings a five-point lead with under three minutes to play.
Despite a game-tying shot from Rhys Martin with just 39 seconds left on the clock, Sydney managed to hold their nerve, particularly Aleks Maric who hit both free throw attempts, to ice the game and snap a six-game losing streak for the Kings against their NSW rivals.
Illawarra will be ruing a number of missed opportunities late in the piece, as well as Ogilvy fouling out in the fourth quarter.
While Lisch was the standout, teammates Jason Cadee (20 points on 7-12 shooting, five assists), Josh Powell (14 points on 6/6 shooting, six rebounds) and Brad Newley (16 points, five rebounds, four assists) were big contributors.
Marvelle Harris was excellent again for the Hawks (23 points, five rebounds, and four assists), as was Rotnei Clarke (17 points, five rebounds), although the latter will be ruing a missed free throw down the stretch.
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