The Sydney Kings are one win away from the NBL championship series after a tense 105-104 win against Perth Wildcats to claim a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three play-off series.
Xavier Cooks (10 points) overcame a season of poor free-throw shooting to ice three foul shots and put the Kings in the lead during the final two minutes of a see-sawing contest.
Down by a point, the Wildcats had one final chance to snatch a monumental upset but star player Kristian Doolittle (31 points) missed his mid-range jump shot and Jo Lual-Acuil and David Duke could not tip in.
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The Kings’ best player this season, American guard Kendric Davis led all comers with 35 points, including two three-pointers in the final term, and six assists.
The Wildcats tested the overwhelming championship favourites throughout Wednesday night’s contest, which featured 56 lead changes and no double-digit advantages.
But John Rillie’s side must now win the play-off series’ second game in Perth on Saturday to keep their season alive.
Well-rested after finishing atop the table, the Kings hit only one of their first seven field-goal attempts in a rusty start to their first game in nearly three weeks.
Perth began the game on a 10-2 run but the Kings chipped away and had their first lead when Matthew Dellavedova (11 points) hit a corner three early in the second term.
Mid-season signing Torrey Craig also had 15 of his 20 points in the first half to help the Kings back into the fight, and is still yet to taste defeat in a Sydney singlet.
The Kings’ 12th consecutive win puts them in the box seat for a first championship series appearance since NBL master coach Brian Goorjian returned last season.
