'Best I’ve seen': Rucker on Davis masterclass

They say pressure makes diamonds, and that’s exactly the type of performance Sydney’s Kendric Davis produced on Sunday.

After a tumultuous Game 2 in Adelaide, the Kings' star produced a game that will go down in the record books, becoming the first player ever to have 34 points, 15 assists and 0 turnovers in a game.

So impressed with the guard’s showing, which helped the Kings defeat Adelaide by 13 points, 1990 NBL MVP Derek Rucker labelled it the ‘best Championship Series performance’ he’s witnessed.

“It’s an unbelievable performance, and there's not much you can say about Kendric Davis other than an extreme comeback game,” Rucker said on Sunday’s Moments That Mattered, presented by Mitsubishi Motors.

“He showed tremendous discipline and composure, and because he had those things under control, he was regulated emotionally, and it allowed his sublime talents to take over.

“34 points and 15 assists, he did everything perfectly in this game.

“I've seen a lot of Championship Series, by some of the all-time greats in the NBL.

“Shane Heal, Andrew Gaze, Lanard Copeland, Mark Bradtke, Ricky Grace, all of them. I'm not sure I've seen a better performance than what KD (Davis) put on right here in a huge moment.

“Adelaide was tough; they put it to them, and everything he [Davis] did was essential to win this game.”

Echoing the praise for the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 MVP runner-up was Pete Hooley.

“You can love him, you can hate him, but you must give respect to what we just saw because that was special,” Hooley said.

“Less than 48 hours ago, everything that happened in Adelaide, not just the aftermath, not just the poking the bear, but he was poor by his lofty standards. He missed a lot of shots that he'd normally make. At times, he felt rushed. He felt like he wasn't composed to come out.

“Then today, to be as efficient as he was, 15 assists as well to go with the 30-plus points and zero turnover in Game 3 of a Championship Series, that right there is the pure definition of masterclass performance at the point guard position.

“I'm not sure we'll see another one near that perfect for a very long time.”

It wasn’t just Davis’ statistical output that impressed Rucker, though.

“It [Davis’ game] was outstanding, and we could just go on and on about it, but I also loved when things were a bit shaky [in the fourth quarter], the Kings were able to really push through and expand their lead.

“I thought he [Davis] made some beautiful passes and elevated his teammates' performances.

“Xavier Cooks really benefited from the way KD played the basketball game.

“I thought the Sydney Kings' offence was really crisp, and I thought the blueprint by Brian Goorjian and the coaching staff was ideal, which Kendric steered masterfully.”

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Wrapping up their discussion on the 26-year-old All-NBL First Team player, NBL champion Hooley said, “I don't want to say they're unbeatable, but when he's doing that with all the other weapons, they might be.”

Game 4 of the Championship Series tips off at 7.30pm AEDT on Wednesday at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, live on ESPN and 10 Drama in Sydney and Adelaide.