SYDNEY — The attention of the entire league was laser focused on Kendric Davis.
What will this look like?
A 26-year-old guard, coming off one of the most inefficient and emotionally volatile games of his career, now standing under the brightest lights the NBL has to offer. The Sydney Kings had just suffered a rare stumble, and all the team needed was an assertive but stable offensive force to get them back on track.
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The response? One of the greatest individual performances in NBL history, in front of the largest crowd the league has ever seen.
Playing all 40 minutes for the first time this season, Davis delivered a masterpiece: 34 points, 15 assists, and not a single turnover. In a championship setting, in front of the largest crowd the league has ever seen, it bordered on surgical perfection.
The Kings, in a back-and-forth contest, came away with the 106-93 win over the Adelaide 36ers to take a 2-1 series lead. It was a game that featured Davis’ incredible performance, a different approach from Bryce Cotton, role players on both teams stepping up, and one head coach ultimately showing immense displeasure in how it was officiated.
Here are the key takeaways.
A Kendric Davis masterclass
When Tim Soares was asked about Davis’ stat-line, he didn’t believe it.
In a vacuum, the 34 points and 15 assists aren’t other-worldly for someone like Davis, but it was the zero turnovers that stood out.
“I thought that was a typo,” Soares said, grinning.
We’ve seen different types of growth from Davis since he’s been part of the NBL ecosystem — most notably in his floor game from his first season in Adelaide, to this one in Sydney — but this was an example of development that occurred between two Championship Series games. And, the zero turnovers were seemingly a representation of that growth; it’s a sign of the improved decision-making.
Davis knew when to strike, and how. He found his openings in the first period, attacking off on-balls to get to his spots in the mid-range and around the paint, as well as being the beneficiary from the Kings’ continued recognition of mismatches against the 36ers’ switchy defence. The Kings created advantages through their post play against those mismatches, allowing Davis to finish plays as a catch-and-shoot option within the flow of the offence; he’d end the first quarter with 13 points.
Kendric Davis put in an epic performance in Game 3. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images
He’d have 22 points at the half. Adelaide was forced to load up. Davis has developed the best floor game in the NBL, so he changed gears.
He used that inherent advantage to elevate his teammates, which was a stark difference from Game 2 of this series, where the ball often stuck with Davis; the point guard dribbling out the clock, not bending the defence, which led to poor shot quality. Fast forward to this Game 3, where he stayed within the Kings’ process, and that allowed for consistent positive outcomes.
“His growth at what he’s trying to do here – shoot the ball, short game, floater, this handling pressure… being a scorer, a point guard, getting everybody involved, how do you evolve and get better at it?” Goorjian posited post-game.
“You have to be in it. The opportunity to be in this series, he’s gonna grow.
“I think he learned a lot from Game 2 leading into this one, and controlling your emotions is a big one. I thought he did a great job of growth… you can’t duplicate this in the regular season.”
“You don’t play better than that.
“You’re seeing the two best in that spot go at each other. It’s worth the price of admission.
“Kendric and Bryce are as good as they get. I just think you’re seeing greatness; it’s drawing out the best in both… You’re seeing two teams that are going after each other, and want it bad. The guard play for both teams has been pretty elite.”
The performance had everything. It was an efficient shooting display – 11-of-19 from the field, including 4-of-8 from downtown – and then the wherewithal to maximise his teammates when the defence dictated it. 11 of Davis’ 15 assists came in the second half, and it helped that his teammates were knocking down shots, with the Kings finishing the game 14-of-32 from beyond the three-point line.
Those 15 assists don’t come if Davis’ teammates don’t execute, and the standout of the Kings’ ancillary players was Jaylin Galloway, who finished with 17 points, shooting 5-of-8 from downtown. Tim Soares had 12 points and 10 rebounds – shooting 3-of-6 from 3PT – while Xavier Cooks had another excellent showing in this series with 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in the win.
“We had guys like Delly, X, Torrey, we were brainstorming ideas of how we could’ve ended that second game, and I think that translated into this game,” Soares said.
“Just the way [Davis] played and picked his moments, I think were the biggest part of it… It was really cool to see him get everybody involved, and finish up with 34 points as well.”
And, of course, Davis brought his usual moxie to the game, clapping in Bryce Cotton’s direction as the clock ticked down at the end of the game. He’d leave the arena donning his sunglasses and a bedazzled pair of jeans.
“One more, baby,” he said in our direction as he exited Qudos, after putting on one of the building’s most memorable individual performances.
Bryce turns facilitator… until the Kings wore him down
This was a unique game from Cotton.
Look at his line as the game was unfolding and nothing ever seemed too flashy, but he had a heap of control out there in the first half. The Kings were, once again, ultra-physical with Cotton — you’ll hear more about that further down in this story — and would regularly send a second player his direction. Cotton’s response would be to leverage that pressure to create a wider floor for his teammates, who rewarded him by hitting shots early.
The 36ers had success using the pressure on Cotton to create good looks, whether it was his bigs rolling to the rim, or freeing up John Jenkins beyond the three-point line. The 36ers were up 53-52 at the half, and Cotton had dished out nine assists up to that point.
As the second half unfolded, the cumulative weight of Sydney’s defence began to show. A mixture of the extremely quick turnaround between games, as well as the plethora of bodies the Kings have to play up-and-in, physical defence, seemingly had an effect on Cotton, who didn’t play with the same pop in the second half.
1:44
Kings win Game 3 back on home court
The Sydney Kings take a 2-1 series lead in the NBL Championship Series, winning Game 3 by 13 points.
Cotton finished with 15 points and 12 assists, but had five turnovers and wasn’t able to get to his spots as cleanly as he did in the first half, so the same advantages weren’t there for the 36ers. Any coach will tell you that fatigue leads to poorer decision-making, and that sharpness affected the overall shot quality for Mike Wells’ team.
“He hasn’t lost a step, and his conditioning is incredible, but he’s a human,” Goorjian said of Cotton.
“It’s not one guy; it’s four guys. He had two big threes in the fourth quarter in this; he doesn’t stop. We’re hoping, over time, to wear him down, and I think it’s a big ask for him on how we’re defending him.”
The 36ers did get useful contributions from Jenkins — a team-high 22 points, shooting 6-of-10 from downtown — and Zylan Cheatham, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the offence has been heliocentric around Cotton all season long, so, when he’s worn down, the offence as a whole takes a hit.
The positive is the 36ers seemingly know where to find their advantages against a very good Kings defence; the negative is that Cotton needs to be fresh in order to execute it. A break ahead of Wednesday evening’s Game 4 will be welcomed dearly from the 33-year-old.
The whistle becomes the story
When Wells sat down for his post-game press conference, it was crystal clear that he was just waiting for his moment to bring up the officiating from Game 3.
The numbers are noteworthy. The Kings are a physical defence — including extra attention on Cotton — and committed just 11 fouls in the game, compared to the 36ers’ 24 personal fouls. That’s a non-trivial disparity, and one Wells displayed his immense displeasure with after his team’s loss.
“Matthew Dellavedova played how many minutes? … he had zero fouls, guys,” Wells said.
Adelaide 36ers coach Mike Wells has slammed the officiating in his side’s NBL Championship Series Game 3 loss to the Sydney Kings.#NBL pic.twitter.com/MAIFX4cVlk
— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) March 29, 2026
“This was the exact same thing we had in Game 1. Now, the scoring was different. The foul output for Game 1 was 11 to 24, this was 11 to 24. The main guy that’s on Bryce Cotton had zero fouls, and he’s guarding him like this.”
Wells put both arms straight in front of him.
“That’s not a legal guarding position.
“(Torrey) Craig had two. (Makuach) Maluach had two. That’s it. They literally draped all over him… if he can’t run up the floor, and those guys have no fouls, and Bryce only got three fouls drawn, and KD’s got one foul; he fouls on every possession, guys.
“Those are big, big plays if we’re not gonna be able to play at the same level and compete at the same level. If they want to beat up the MVP and take him out, that’s what the refs have allowed them to do.
“He doesn’t even get to the free throw line. That was the exact same game as Game 1, except the point differential was different. We were in this game to win this game, but we didn’t have a chance to do that.
“[The Kings] only had four fouls the entire second half. Let that sink in now… They were called for four fouls in an entire half.”
That assessment from Wells was always going to happen, given the foul disparity.
Dellavedova is a high-level yet physical defender, and was face-guarding Cotton for the just-over-22 minutes he was on the floor, so not committing a single foul is objectively surprising and noteworthy. Given the Kings’ strategy on Cotton — and, of course, it should be stressed that they’re an elite defensive team — the six-time MVP only drawing three fouls in his 39 minutes is also striking.
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“Bryce Cotton is all over the court and he is trying to get downhill and I know he’s light, but if he goes flying four or five feet that way, it’s probably because he got pushed,” he added.
“I’m telling my guys to fight through everything but Matthew Dellavedova didn’t foul the whole night.
“I know it’s footy season, but that’s a different game right now. We’ve got to play basketball.”
Goorjian approached the conversation with a different interpretation when asked about Wells’ comments, insisting that not fouling is part of the teaching the Kings have gone through when discussing how they’re guarding Cotton.
“A big focus is Bryce,” Goorjian said.
“I do have history; Andrew Gaze is similar, and they’re comparing the two. The game, for us, is defending him without fouling, and keeping your hands off him.
“The penalties are some roll-outs, some guys getting threes off the ball, but fouling him on top of that would be a travesty. We’re constantly talking about it, and we’re constantly moving the bodies. I thought we did a very good job, in all three games so far, of what we’re trying to do there, and making it as hard as we possibly can without being dirty, without fouling.
“It’s a focus point for us. We have the personnel on the roster to do the best job possible there. He’s a tremendous player, you’re not gonna stop him all the time… There’s no secrets in what we’re doing. As you’re in a series, you get better at it, and we’re better at it in Game 3 than we were in Game 1.”
It’s no secret that a team will generally get a friendlier whistle at home – and the NBL scheduling different referees for each game in this series will also play a role in some of the officiating inconsistencies we may see – so how Game 4 in Adelaide is called will be worth keeping an eye on. They’re arguably the loudest and rowdiest crowd in the league, so they’ll undoubtedly swing a few foul calls the 36ers’ way.
A record crowd in Qudos
And all of this unfolded in front of history.
We witnessed the largest crowd in NBL history on Sunday afternoon in Qudos Bank Arena.
A total of 18,373 fans were in the house for Game 3, which is also the third largest basketball crowd to ever convene for a game in Australia, only behind the pair of Australian Boomers vs. Team USA games in 2019.
“A big part of this is taking advantage of the game of basketball, in a series like this, and getting the city of Sydney behind this team,” Goorjian said of the record crowd.
“The style which we play is attractive, and the style the city would embrace. To have 18,000 here tonight is huge for basketball. To have a full house in Adelaide… the energy in the two cities is really important for the game.”
Soares was a member of the Kings for the previous record — 18,124 in attendance for Game 5 of the 2023 Championship Series against the New Zealand Breakers — and he had a sense this Sunday afternoon crowd may top it.
“That was the loudest I’ve heard it in a basketball game, that’s for sure,” Soares said.
“We had a couple of big plays, a couple of and-ones, that was unreal. It was a cool atmosphere to be in.
“I was talking to my family and friends the other day. It was like: I wish you could all be out here to be part of the 18,000. It’s so unique. Just being part of those big moments, the and-ones; those were very electric, the loudest I’ve ever heard it in here.”
