Round 5: Taipans v Kings

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings
(Qudos Bank Arena)
Watch live on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Foxtel
Head to the official post-game party at the Reef Hotel Casino

LAST MEETING

These two teams met just two weeks ago – where Cairns handed Sydney their first loss of the season with a stunning 83-78 win on their home floor. This game featured 14 lead changes – the most the Kings have been tangled in this year.

That was also the only match of the season so far where all five Cairns starters scored in double-figures, led by Keanu Pinder and Shannon Scott with 16 points each.

For Sydney, Dejan Vasiljevic led the Kings with a season-high 20 points and Xavier Cooks had 15 points.

LINE-UP

Tahjere McCall will be joined by guard Mirko Djeric on the injured list for Cairns, with Djeric spraining his ankle during a training drill this week. Their respective injury replacements Josh Davey (development player) and Gabe Hadley (training player) have travelled to Sydney for the road trip.

LOOK FOR

A very close contest. The last three games by Cairns have been decided by just five points or less (+5 at Sydney, +4 at United, -4 vs New Zealand) and they remain unbeaten on the road.

Meanwhile, the Kings have never lost three in a row under Chase Buford at Qudos Bank Arena which will be their fate if they drop this result.

LATEST WORDS 

“We’re still 4 and 2. There’s a couple of games we’ve got to do really well in, and maintain that level of intensity and competitiveness before the FIBA break. We play Sydney and Melbourne next, so the element of surprise is gone now. Those guys will really lock into what they want to do, to beat us. We’re conscious of that. We want to stick to our processes and do the things we do well but know they’ll have adjusted to us and be prepared for what to expect. We’ve got to be more proactive and anticipate they’re going to come out harder,” Adam Forde on upcoming schedule

“They want to beat us bad. That was their first loss in a long time. They probably feel a way about us. But, at the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and play them; they’ve got to go out there and play us. They’re a great team, they play really good basketball. We’ll be ready for it, we’ll prepare the same way we did last time and go from there,” - Shannon Scott on Sydney