Playoffs Game 1: Taipans overrun by Kings

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans (87) lost to Sydney Kings (95)
Playoffs Series Game 1 | Qudos Bank Arena
Next Game: Taipans v Kings, Friday 17 February 6:30pm AEST

SUMMARY

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans threw the gauntlet down to the Sydney Kings in Game 1 of the Playoffs Series with five first half three-pointers from Jonah Antonio but the reigning champions ended up prevailing 95-87.

The Taipans came into Qudos Bank Arena with no fear despite the absence of key duo Tahjere McCall and Keanu Pinder having advanced by beating the Perth Wildcats on Sunday to meet the Kings.

Cairns finished the first quarter with the last nine points to grab the lead with a triple from Antonio. He came out to knock down four more three-pointers in the second quarter.

He had a career-high 17 points to half-time with the Taipans putting up 59 to lead by nine. However, the Kings steadied the ship and with MVP Xavier Cooks leading the way, they scored 17 points straight in the third quarter to grab the lead.

Sydney ended up outscoring Cairns 45 points to 28 in the second half to win by eight and lead one-nil in the best of three series.

The Taipans worked their way into the contest starting with a Sam Waardenburg dunk when the seas parted for him.

Then with Sydney up 25-17, Cairns finished on fire with the last nine points including three balls to Majok Deng and Jonah Antonio to nab the 26-25 going into quarter-time.

Lat Mayen knocked down a three-pointer early in the second quarter for Cairns, but it very quickly became the Antonio show in the breakout performance of his first NBL season.

Coming into the season he was a known commodity as a knockdown three-point shooter. He had patiently been biding his time on this Taipans team, but grabbed his opportunity in spectacular fashion in Game 1 of the Playoffs Series.

After four quick points to start the second half from Shannon Scott, Cairns still led by 11 and Sydney had to respond.

They did in a fashion like only they can and it was a 17-0 scoring run that saw them turn that 11-point deficit into a six-point lead. That included a couple of dunks from Cooks in transition, triples from Derrick Walton Jr, Justin Simon and Noi.

A layup on the buzzer from Jaylin Galloway saw Sydney take a 77-69 lead into three quarter-time on the back of scoring 25 of the last 31 points of the third period while holding Cairns to just 10 points.

The Taipans did well to hang around in the fourth quarter, though, and they were running everything through Hogg and putting the ball in his hands. He brought them back within three with a nice bucket with five minutes to play.

Scott hit a triple and then made a three-point play to keep the Taipans close, but they couldn’t quite get over the hump with Sydney winning by eight. Game 2 will be in Cairns on Friday night.

STATISTICS

In a stunning shooting display, Jonah Antonio made four three-pointers in the second quarter and made another two free-throws. That gave him 14 points for the quarter, 17 points in the half on 5/6 three-point shooting in just 8:38 of court time.

On the back of that, the Snakes led 59-50 at half-time on the back of shooting 56 per cent from the floor and nailing 10/21 from deep as a team. 

However, Sydney outscored Cairns 45 points to 28 in the second half to claim the 95-87 win. By the end of the game, Cairns' numbers had dropped to 41 per cent shooting from the floor and 12/35 from three-point range.

Sydney ended up shooting 52 per cent from the field and scored 58 points in the paint to 26.

While Jonah Antonio produced a career-best 20 points with 6/9 three-point shooting for Cairns, it was DJ Hogg who led the Snakes' charge with another 24 points and two assists.

Shannon Scott added 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Sam Waardenburg 11 points and seven boards, and Bul Kuol eight points, four rebounds and three assists before fouling out midway through the fourth.

Majok Deng contributed six points, four rebounds and two assists, and Lat Mayen five points, five rebounds and two steals.

STATEMENTS

Head Coach Adam Forde: 

"It was always going to be a question if that shooting was sustainable, but the big issue obviously was that we gave up 50 at the half and that was the main consensus that we talked about. The offence was a little bit terminal especially in that third quarter when we made some errors at both ends of the floor. We lost a little bit of composure with the chirping on the floor and so forth. The good thing was we were able to regain a little bit of composure and keep it relatively close with a couple of chances to really take the lead back in the fourth. But we just couldn’t make those shots."

Taipans Forward DJ Hogg:

"We just have to be better on defence. Our defence leads to good offence for us and they kept keeping us in the halfcourt because they would score when they could take the ball out and bring it up slow. So if we can maybe break that 17-0 run and get two, three or four stops in there that would chop that down a lot. I felt alright out there but I think I could have made a couple more shots. For the most part, I just have to keep being aggressive and keep getting my teammates involved when I can when they over help."