The Sydney Kings have moved to the top of the NBL ladder after centre Jordan Hunter starred in a 99-86 defeat of Perth Wildcats.

Pushing for a third straight title, the Kings shook off a slow start at home on Sunday and never trailed after quarter-time.

Wildcats coach John Rillie lamented a poor night under the rim, after Sydney pulled down 58 rebounds to Perth’s 39.

“When we don’t rebound, it’s a tough night for us,” he said.

“What I would say about Sydney is they do a great job of playing with pace and space.

“You can cut the cakes a million different ways when you’re evaluating. We just weren’t good enough tonight.”

Hunter came within one rebound of clinching his first double-double since resuming starting centre duties this season, finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds.

“I think Jordy’s one of the best rollers in the league on the offensive end,” said Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah.

“The game could’ve gone either way.

“When we got 19 offensive rebounds after shooting seven from 40 from three, I think that was the separation.”

Hunter and import guard Denzel Valentine orchestrated an 11-3 run to finish the first half that opened up a handy eight-point lead for the Kings.

Jonah Bolden (13 points, 11 rebounds) banked his second double-double in as many games to help keep the Kings’ intensity up when Hunter was off.

Perth tore away to a 21-9 lead early on but bench guard Angus Glover iced a three that pulled the Kings level and completed a 12-0 scoring run.

Superstar Wildcats guard Bryce Cotton threatened to explode with 11 first-quarter points including a three-pointer inside 20 seconds.

But the Kings did well to curb his influence after the first change by sending the size of Hunter and Kouat Noi his way.

“You can’t stat it, but the way they switched onto Cotton, I thought he did a phenomenal job,” Abdelfattah said of Noi.

Cotton, the three-time NBL MVP, who averages more points against the Kings than any other team, was scoreless between the eighth minute of the first quarter and the midpoint of the third.

The Wildcats found themselves in foul trouble early in the third, inviting the Kings to extend their lead by fouling four times in the opening two minutes.

Next Star Alex Toohey hit two back-to-back three-pointers from the corner of the arc in the third quarter that pushed the lead to a game-high 15 points and forced a time-out.

Cotton came back into the match late to finish with a game-high 22 points but by that point, the Kings’ lead was too sizeable to be threatened.

Tai Webster fouled out late to cap an afternoon to forget for the Wildcats.

“We’re not quite at a championship level at whatever the date it is today,” Rillie said.

“But the good thing is, it’s the front end of the season.”

Goulding fires as United lock down Bullets in NBL

Some trademark stifling defence and a hot shooting first half from Chris Goulding meant Melbourne United had little trouble disposing of the Brisbane Bullets 89-78 in their NBL match at John Cain Arena.

Both teams came into Sunday’s game from matches on Friday night, with Melbourne winning in Perth and Brisbane losing at home to Sydney, and their encounter was a chess match early and a defensive grind.

That was until United captain and 413-game veteran Goulding blew the game open. He hit four three-pointers in the latter part of the second quarter, including three in-a-row making up a 9-0 run.

He had 15 points at half-time and that – combined with the superb defence of United holding Brisbane to 28 points on 32 per cent field goal shooting with 11 turnovers – put the home team in control, 43-28.

The Bullets were still missing their starting front court of the suspended Aron Baynes and injured Josh Bannan, and had no answer for the physicality and defensive commitment of Melbourne.

Melbourne’s lead would balloon to as much as 27 points before the Bullets managed 31 in the fourth quarter to close the final margin to 11.

United lost Matthew Dellavedova to concussion before half-time but Goulding stepped up to top-score with 18 points while Shea Ili had 14 and eight assists, and imposing Next Star Ariel Hukporti 11 points and 12 rebounds.

While United coach Dean Vickerman was happy with the win to improve to 4-1, his thoughts were with Dellavedova.

“We got him home pretty quickly and he’ll be assessed,” Vickerman said.

“Obviously there’s a little bit of history there over his career and I’m just feeling for him right now.

“We’ll find out more information but we’re just more concerned about him right now and we saw too much of it last year (with Ili) so I just hope he’s doing good.”

It was a third straight loss for Brisbane, and with Baynes still sidelined for three more matches, but they will take something from the fourth quarter.

Shannon Scott top-scored with 19 points while Nathan Sobey had 16 and Chris Smith 15, while Tyrell Harrison contributed nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller will take the lessons from a loss to the club where he was assistant coach for past six seasons.

“It’s a frustrating one again and I’ve got to do a good job here of just figuring out why we went through a huge patch there where we just couldn’t create offence,” Schueller said.

“It just felt like we were searching too long for offensive answers and I love the fight in our group, and that we continue to challenge, but it’s just that offensive patch, and only 28 points in the first half is not where we need to be.”

Phoenix get jump on Tassie in thriller

Majok Deng’s missed free throw in the dying seconds has allowed South East Melbourne Phoenix to escape with a surprise 86-85 NBL win over the Tasmania JackJumpers at John Cain Arena.

The Phoenix led Saturday night’s thrilling clash by two points when their import Gary Browne’s missed floater with 10 seconds remaining ended in a loose-ball scrap and Deng, after collecting the ball, was fouled by Mitch Creek.

Deng, a reliable 82.6 per cent foul shooter across his career, swished his first attempt with 3.4 seconds on the clock but his second shot rimmed out and was rebounded to safety by Creek.

“We don’t need to pick up Majok – he’s a grown man and we love him,” JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.

“I wouldn’t want anyone at the foul line other than him.”

Browne (20 points) and Creek (16) played pivotal roles in lowly Phoenix’s toppling of the ladder leaders.

Diminutive import Jordon Crawford (27 points) led the JackJumpers’ charge, waging an engrossing backcourt duel with Browne.

“It came down to one possession and it was a bit of a grind,” Phoenix coach Mike Kelly said.

“Both teams played super hard and went at each other.

“A good fight … our guys kept going.”

Milton Doyle gave Tasmania a 5-0 headstart before Clint Steindl and Crawford caught fire from the perimeter to pushed them ahead 18-10 late in the opening stanza.

The JackJumpers’ early advantage vanished in the second term through turnovers as Phoenix upped the defensive pressure. Scores were locked away at 43-all at half-time before Browne caught fire in the third to give South East Melbourne a 68-64 three-quarter-time edge.

The 168cm Crawford, who had 17 first-half points before being silenced in that third period, got motoring again to start the fourth, which he started with a baseline jumper and a three-pointer to put the Jackies back in front.

Browne piloted a 12-3 response before triples from Doyle and Crawford kept the visitors in the hunt right to the finish.

“I felt like we hung in there and kept swinging,” Roth said. “I was really proud of them. I’m not too upset.”

Kell, Flowers star as Sixers snap winless run

Teenage phenom Trentyn Flowers’ fourth-quarter explosion has steered the Adelaide 36ers to a drought-breaking 89-80 NBL win over Illawarra at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The bottom-ranked Sixers were wallowing at 0-4 entering Saturday’s match and trailed at every break before Flowers, projected to be a potential first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, came of age and piloted his side to victory.

Flowers scored 23 points, including 18 in the final term during which the 36ers swamped the Hawks 35-20 to claim their first triumph of the season.

Import Trey Kell (25 points, nine rebounds) laid the earlier foundation which allowed Flowers to bloom late.

Sam Froling (21 points) led the charge for the Hawks, who needed more from their American guards Tyler Harvey (12 points at 33 per cent) and Justin Robinson (three points at seven per cent).

“They took the flow away from us and we weren’t able to get cheap baskets,” Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas said.

“We didn’t get the win but there was some improvement from last game (thrashed by 30 points by Tasmania).”

Adelaide fell in an early ditch, trailing 20-8 as they chalked up more turnovers (six) than shot attempts (five).

Kell (13 first-quarter points), who traded buckets with Illawarra’s ex-NBA forward Greg Clark (12), dug them out of the hole and his trey on the quarter-time bell reduced the Hawks’ lead to 25-23.

Kell and Isaac Humphries continued their solid play in the second term to trim the deficit to 40-39 at halftime.

Behind Froling, Illawarra gradually began drawing away from the 36ers in the shadows of three-quarter time, but their upper hand was quickly brought undone by the Flowers show.

“That was amazing,” Flowers said. “That’s basketball – when you’re going, you’re going.

“My teammates were behind me the entire game.”

The 18-year-old started the fourth term with a tip-in and a pair of threes.

He hit four from downtown for the quarter to single-handedly outscore the Hawks 18-10 over the first seven minutes of the quarter, hammering home resurgent Adelaide’s advantage.

“At half-time I had a few choice words and did some stuff that the guys haven’t seen me do,” 36ers coach CJ Bruton said.

“All our games, we’ve been in it and our effort’s been great.”

Travers cops boos but United beat Perth

Luke Travers quietened his old home fans on his return to RAC Arena with Melbourne United’s trademark defence leading the way in their 88-81 victory against the Perth Wildcats.

Melbourne didn’t have things all their own way including foul trouble to big men Ariel Hukporti and Rob Loe, but their defence was on point making life hell for ‘Cats superstar Bryce Cotton.

The one-two defensive punch of Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova helped limit Cotton to 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting. United did well to hold a potent Perth team to 81 points (29 in the fourth) and 34 per cent shooting to claim the seven-point win.

The victory improves Melbourne to 3-1 with both Chris Goulding and Ian Clark scoring 18 with four three-pointers apiece.

Hukporti only played 19 minutes because of foul trouble but was a powerful presence with 11 points and seven rebounds. Dellavedova added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Travers 11 points on his return home.

Travers enjoyed his homecoming after 100 games with the Wildcats.

“If I didn’t hear any boos then I felt like I didn’t do my job properly playing here the last four years,” Travers said.

“There was also a little bit of support so it was cool and I was actually more calm than I thought I was going to be. I just tried to take it all in and enjoy the experience, and make the most of it.”

Keanu Pinder led the charge for the Wildcats with 25 points with Jordan Usher adding 20 despite shooting 6-of-18. Alex Sarr added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks with import Kristian Doolittle going down with a lower leg injury in the opening minutes.

Coach John Rillie lamented the lack of offensive cohesion for the ‘Cats because he liked their defence and rebounding.

“Where it went wrong was that our offence wasn’t as efficient as we would like,” Rillie said.

Luke Travers. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

“We did a great job defensively and rebounding, and with our line-up a little disrupted now with Doolittle going down, we’ve got to find our rhythm offensively as our defence and rebounding continues to grow.”

A lot of the attention was on the return to Perth of Travers for the first time since joining Melbourne. He threw down a statement dunk in the grill of Pinder to silence his old home fans.

Melbourne’s defence continued to keep them on top in the first half and they still led 39-35 at the main break even with two late threes for Perth after missing the first 11 attempts.

United did continue to have all the answers with a third three to Clark to start the fourth quarter putting them up 11, but then the ‘Cats made their charge.

Pinder, Usher and Cotton inspired a 9-1 run to tie scores up but another triple late from Clark ensured United held out for the seven-point win to make it eight wins on their last 10 visits out west.

Bolden hits his stride as Kings bounce Bullets

Jonah Bolden’s basketball comeback has gathered pace as Sydney ran through a Brisbane team missing Aron Baynes for an 11-point NBL road win.

The sides traded shots in a wide-open first quarter before the two-time defending champions clamped down on Friday night in enemy territory, Jaylen Adams (26 points, three rebounds, three assists) stamping his class to pilot the 113-102 assault.

Former Philadelphia and Phoenix forward Bolden was instrumental in the Kings’ dominant second term, when they swelled their lead from four to 14 points to dampen the mood of a lively Nissan Arena full house.

The lead swelled to as many as 22 points before Brisbane pegged it back in the final minutes, a Bolden (12 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, two assists) triple calming any nerves when the lead was cut to eight with 90 seconds to play.

It’s his first campaign since he walked away from the sport as a 25-year-old in 2020.

On separate possessions he plucked possession and dunked on emerging 17-year-old Rocco Zikarsky (six points, four rebounds) while dominating the boards with six rebounds in the quarter.

It further amplified Baynes’ absence, a man he coincidentally replaced on a 10-day contract at Phoenix when the Bullets centre was injured in what were Bolden’s last NBA minutes.

“He’s that talented; you saw it today, some of the rebounds he was getting, there’s no reason he can’t do the same thing he was doing for the Sixers or the Suns,” Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah said.

Baynes will miss four more games after copping a suspension for three separate charges stemming from a fiery exchange in the Bullets’ loss to Cairns last Saturday.

Without him, Zikarsky deputised for Tyrell Harrison (12 points on 71 per cent shooting), who has big shoes to fill in coming weeks.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller acknowledged Baynes’ omission – on top of fellow forward Josh Bannan’s knee injury – was a “hole”.

But he said there was enough on show to prove they could still match it with the top side.

“We can’t skip the little things,” he said, lamenting loose defence that led to easy early Kings buckets.

“We needed to take the air out of the ball in this game.”

Alex Toohey (18 points on seven-of-eight shooting) put the nail in the coffin late in the third quarter, a tough rebound and steal both leading to impressive finishes for the 19-year-old prospect.

The in-form Nathan Sobey’s (26 points, seven rebounds) best efforts were swallowed up by the Kings’ many contributors.

Victory moved the Kings to 3-1 before hosting Perth, while a second straight loss for Brisbane (2-2) comes ahead of a trip to face Melbourne, also on Sunday.

Baynes sorry after ban as Forde breaks silence

Brisbane Bullets centre Aron Baynes has issued a public apology after receiving a five-game ban for sparking several incidents during a round-two NBL match against Cairns Taipans.

It comes as Adam Forde, the Taipans coach at the centre of one of those fiery confrontations, broke his silence.

Taipans forward Lat Mayen elbowed Baynes in the neck as the pair jostled for a rebound during Saturday night’s game in Brisbane, prompting the NBA champion to furiously appeal to the referees for a foul.

The incident later spilled off the court with Baynes physically confronting Mayen and Taipans coach Adam Forde during the half-time break to air his grievances.

Both Mayen and Baynes were ejected from the game before the third quarter began.

After Thursday night’s tribunal hearing, Baynes was found guilty of excessive disputing for remonstrating with the referees, unsportsmanlike conduct for bumping Mayen as the teams left for half-time and an abnormal or unacceptable act for confronting Forde.

“I unreservedly accept that my conduct was unacceptable, and I have fallen short of the standard expected of a representative of the Brisbane Bullets and the NBL,” Baynes said in a statement.

“I wish to sincerely apologise for my actions.”

Baynes’ physical confrontation with Forde was considered the most serious of his indiscretions and after footage and audio was reviewed, accounted for three matches of his ban.

Usually outspoken, Forde was tight-lipped about Baynes’ clash with Mayen post-match and remained so when it came to light he had been involved in his own dust-up with the centre.

In comments to the media, Bullets advisor Stu Lash accused Forde of waiting outside Brisbane’s dressing room at half-time to confront Baynes.

But the Taipans coach did not respond until after Baynes’ verdict was released.

“It has been difficult to remain quiet given all the accusations, but I have been comfortable knowing that once footage and audio was obtained, I would be cleared of any wrongdoing,” Forde said.

“The unedited and original CCTV footage and audio shows I was outside our team’s changeroom and proves I did not start the verbal conversation or instigate any physical exchange.

“I would like to thank the Cairns Taipans for their support during this process, the NBL and the Cairns community.”

For his role in the episode, Mayen has already accepted a $1550 fine but will not miss any game time, while Forde has escaped sanction altogether. Lash received an official warning for his public comments.

Imports shine as Tasmania thrash Illawarra in NBL

Tasmania JackJumpers coach Scott Roth believes Milton Doyle is good enough to play in the NBA after the import starred in a 103-73 thrashing of the Illawarra Hawks.

American guard Doyle continued his rich vein of early-season form with 19 points at a packed MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on Thursday night.

He also picked up a team-high nine rebounds as well as five assists to help Tasmania (3-1) to their third victory in a row. Doyle’s performance came after he dragged Tasmania across the line against defending champions the Sydney Kings and competition heavyweights Melbourne United.

“I can’t say enough about him as a person, and his calmness,” Roth said.

“He has this ‘silent assassin’ kind of image with him. He doesn’t get rattled, he plays at his own pace.”

Roth said 29-year-old Doyle was one of several NBL players good enough to play in the NBA.

“(Scouts) want the young kid that is 18, 19 years old,” he said.

“There are multiple guys over here that can play in the NBA at their age, but they don’t get a chance because everyone wants the hot new toy. It’s unfortunate (but) it’s great for us.”

In his first season with the JackJumpers, fellow US import Jordon Crawford was electric with 17 points and six assists.

The point guard joined the franchise from Buyukcekmece in Turkey, where he led the Basketbol Super Ligi in scoring with an average of 19.6 points per game.

Jack McVeigh got in on the act with 15 points in what was Tasmania’s equal highest score since joining the national league two seasons ago. The home team blew the game open with a 31-10 second quarter against the sloppy Hawks, who conceded 11 turnovers by half-time.

“We’ve got to be better. Enough is enough,” Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas said.

“We’re always back-pedalling, trying to do something. Guys are looking at the bench. It’s just not good enough.

“There has to be a change within the group. We do a lot of work … a lot of video.

“But there is nothing video-wise that will help us. It’s just the will of us right now.”

Illawarra mustered more defensive grit during periods in the second half, but by then the margin was too wide.

The Hawks have won just one of their opening three matches this season and have now lost 15 of their past 16 games on the road.

They shot at just 38 per cent from the field, while the JackJumpers were on point from deep and shot 43 per cent of three-point attempts. Tasmania came flying out of the blocks and were up by 13 points before Illawarra cut the deficit to 24-19 at the first break.

Gary Clark top-scored for Illawarra with 16 points, while Justin Robinson had some decent moments early and a first quarter that netted seven points.