Christmas Comes Early for Kings

The Sydney Kings have bounced back in magnificent fashion from their first defeat in two months with a 133-89 massacre of the Adelaide 36ers tonight at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Adelaide were in trouble upon entering the Kingdome with captain Brett Maher being ruled out with a hamstring injury and from that point on things quickly went down hill for the third placed 36ers.

After just nine minutes they found themselves trailing the red hot Kings by 25 points and that score line would only get worse as Sydney demolished Adelaide in every facet of the game to record their biggest ever win over the 36ers.

“That was a great game for us. It was an important game, because it really puts us in a good position to consolidate a playoff position,” said an ecstatic Brian Goorjian after the match.

“I was real pleased with the bench, the defence and the running of the floor. Everybody looked like a good basketball player tonight.”

CJ Bruton gave another display that should have him in the running for MVP come seasons end scoring 22 points and dishing out six assists, while Mark Worthington also pushed his cause for some individual silverware picking up 22 points and eight rebounds.

Youngster David Barlow had another great game off the bench scoring 20 points before fouling out late in the third period and import Rolan Roberts monstered the 36ers in the paint in his 17 minutes on court scoring 17 points on 7/11 shooting.

Jacob Holmes was by far and away the best for the 36ers scoring a game high 24 points to go with 13 rebounds and five assists, while import Dusty Rychart had another decent outing with 20 points.

Christmas carols rang out through the Kingdome in the pre-game warm ups, but that was were the holiday cheer would end from the hosts as they went on a point scoring blitz in the first quarter that saw them come within a point of equalling their highest ever output in an opening period in franchise history.

Bruton was the main instigator of the points rush hitting two of his three long bombs during a 16-0 run in the term, while Roberts proved to be a nightmare match up for the 36ers scoring 10 points for the period, the highlight being a massive tip jam that had the Kings crowd on their feet (42-19).

Sydney continued to put the pressure on Adelaide in the second quarter and once again it was Bruton who was the ringleader, scoring 10 quick points before being subbed off midway through the period.

Youngster David Barlow picked up where Bruton left off hitting a couple of three pointers before charging down the lane for a massive two handed dunk to send the Kings into half time with a massive 27 point advantage (66-39).

Sydney failed to let up on the undermanned 36ers in the third period piling on another 39 points to the 36ers 24 to extend their lead to 42 points (105-63) and it got no better for the visitors in the final quarter with rookie of the year candidate Mark Worthington giving the fans a preview of his abilities with a couple of three pointers and a spectacular one handed jam off an ally oop pass from Ian Crosswhite.

Sydney (19-3) will look to finish off the year in style next Friday night when they play out their third derby match of the season against the struggling West Sydney Razorbacks, while the 36ers (15-10) will also play the Pigs next round welcoming them to Adelaide a night later on New Years Eve.

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