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Kings blitz Bullets in deflating Boondall return

3 minute read

Xavier Cooks did the early damage as the Sydney Kings mounted more early-season NBL misery on the winless Bullets in Brisbane.

Brisbane's Boondall homecoming has been crashed by Sydney, Xavier Cooks slicing up the Bullets in a one-sided 91-82 NBL win.

Cooks (23 points, seven rebounds, five assists) did as he pleased for the Kings on Saturday, exposing the Bullets at both ends of a floor they won titles on in 1987 and again 20 years later.

Double the size of their old 5000-seat Nissan Arena home court, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was bouncing when Casey Prather (17 points, five rebounds) began with a huge dunk and they led 17-15.

Brian Goorjian's side clicked into gear though, scoring the next 18 points to take the oxygen out of the building.

Turnovers - 16 in all - and low-pressure, disconnected defence had the Bullets staggering into halftime down 20 points, the hosts' three-of-23 shooting from long range also problematic.

The Bullets trailed by as many as 29 points, but scored the last 16 points of the contest to salvage some dignity. 

Brisbane, pre-season tournament champions, are now 0-3 while the Kings are 3-1.

Brisbane import guard James Batemon was benched for the third quarter as his struggles continued while fellow starter Deng Adel was scoreless from five field goal attempts in his 15 minutes.

Centre Rocco Zikarski (11 points, five rebounds in 15 minutes) enjoyed some welcome minutes in the final quarter but it was Kings rookie Keli Leaupepe (22 points) who won the Next Stars battle with a mix of power and long-range precision.

Jaylen Adams scored just two points and took six shots in 22 minutes for the Kings, who lost the final quarter 27-16 to take some gloss off their earlier dominance.

The Bullets next face South East Melbourne on Saturday, the Phoenix (0-4) facing similar struggles in what shapes as a grudge match since long-time Brisbane guard Nathan Sobey's off-season move south.