Davis lifts Kings in front of record crowd

The Sydney Kings took control of Game 3 of the NBL Championship Series in the last quarter with Kendric Davis dominant to lead his team to within one win of a title beating the Adelaide 36ers 106-93 in front of a record Qudos Bank Arena crowd.

All the talk after the dramatic Game 2 finish in Adelaide was Davis getting in the face of Bryce Cotton after he hit the game winner at the buzzer. The Kings star and former Sixer let his basketball do the talking in front of 18,373 fans in Sydney on Sunday.

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It was a record crowd at Qudos Bank Arena and with the series tied at 1-1, it was a tight and tense battle for three quarters. The Kings took control in the fourth quarter starting with the opening seven points to take a double-figure lead.

They converted that into the 13-point victory with 54 points to 40 in the second half to be up 2-1 in the series with a chance to win a championship in Adelaide on Wednesday or with a second chance back home potentially next Wednesday.

Davis struggled in Game 2 in Adelaide with 20 points on 6/25 shooting and then lost his cool after the buzzer. He was the difference in Game 3 with a brilliant all-round showing though.

The MVP runner-up of the past two seasons delivered 34 points and a Championship Series record 15 assists with 11/19 field goal shooting while going 4/8 from downtown and 8/9 at the stripe without a turnover.

He had plenty of help too with Jaylin Galloway knocking down 5/8 from long-range for 17 points with Xavier Cooks contributing 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks, and Tim Soares 12 points and 10 rebounds with 3/6 three-point shooting.

Then there was the defensive performance from Matthew Dellavedova to hound Cotton in all of his 22:23 of court time while having eight assists and six rebounds.

Cotton still had 12 assists for Adelaide but did have five turnovers and just the 15 points on 5/15 shooting with only two free-throw attempts.

John Jenkins had 14 first quarter points for the 36ers and 22 for the game with 6/10 three-point shooting with Zylan Cheatham finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Isaac Humphries 12 points and three boards, and Nick Rakocevic 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

It was a hot shooting start to the Game 3 from both teams with a couple of early threes for Sydney from Tim Soares and Jaylin Galoway, and for Adelaide from Bryce Cotton and Zylan Cheatham.

Kendric Davis then had six quick points for the Kings and Galloway had another triple, but it was John Jenkins who came on and shot the Sixers on top the rest of the first term.

He did get going in Game 2 in Adelaide as well and then hit all four three-point attempts in the opening term on Sunday for 14 points to lead the 36ers to the 31-24 advantage after one.

Sydney then responded with the first eight points of the second frame including three balls to Davis and Galloway, but the 36ers responded with their own 8-2 run including four points from Isaac Humphries to reclaim a five-point edge.

Things remained tight the rest of the half with Adelaide up 53-52 at the break with Cotton turning facilitator with nine assists for the visitors with just the seven points on 2/8 shooting while Davis was keeping Sydney in it with 22 points.

It remained a tense affair through the third period as well and by three quarter-time it was just a three-point Sydney advantage, but then the Kings made their move to start the fourth.

They started with the first seven points with triples to Soares and Galloway, and the Sixers couldn’t respond this time with Sydney taking the Game 3 win by 13 to be one more away from a championship.

Game 4 will now be back to a sold out and raucous Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night with Sydney trying to secure a third championship in six years while the Sixers attempt to force Game 5 back in Sydney next Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL26 FINALS – CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES, GAME 3

SYDNEY KINGS 106 (Davis 34, Cooks 18, Galloway 17)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 93 (Jenkins 22, Cheatham 17, Cotton 15)

BOX SCORE

Sydney Kings lead best-of-5 series 2-1‍