Kings win NBL grand final Game 1

Sydney have scored a 95-78 home win over Tasmania in the opening game of the NBL grand final series, but a question mark lingers over the fitness of their league MVP Jaylen Adams.

Former NBA guard Adams, who was the game-high scorer with 18 points, walked down the race early in the fourth quarter with Sydney holding a 15-point lead.

The JackJumpers scored the next seven points to cut the deficit down to eight, but the Kings steadied and quickly got the margin back into double figures and cruised to the finish.

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Sydney shot 54 per cent form the field and hit 11 of 23 three-pointers while Tasmania made just 35 per cent of their shots.

Game 2 takes place in Tasmania on Sunday.

After a tight first half in which the Kings led by four and three at quarter time and halftime respectively, the home side pulled away in the third.

They outscored the JackJumpers 28-18 with Adams notching eight points and Tasmania contributing to their own woes by committing eight turnovers in the third quarter.

Sydney’s other former NBA player, Ian Clark, enjoyed a fine shooting night, finishing with 17 points on 7 of 10 from the field and making all three of his long bomb attempts.

Kings captain and forward Xavier Cooks logged 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Dejan Vasiljevic also banked 14 points.

For Tasmania, Jack McVeigh and Mikyle Mcintosh had 14 while Josh Adams and Clint Steindl each tallied 13.

The JackJumpers led for less than 80 seconds of the match, but never allowed the Kings more than a seven-point advantage through the first two quarters.

In front of 12,765 fans at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney scored the opening five points of the game and the visiting JackJumpers missed their first four field goal attempts.

It took almost three minutes for Tasmania to register their first score, but successive three-pointers to McVeigh got them going.

They trailed by seven in the second period but four players each hit triples to keep them in the game.

Kings win NBL grand final Game 1
Independent Information