Drmic shoots Bullets to big win over Kings

The Brisbane Bullets have shown they still have plenty of shots left to fire after a career night from Anthony Drmic and a statement 93-70 win over the Sydney Kings at Nissan Arena on Thursday night.

Injured star Xavier Cooks returned for the Kings but the only thing that was cooked was the struggling Sydney offence as the top four hopefuls missed a chance to cement a spot in the top four in frustrating fashion.

The match was effectively over at half-time as Drmic channelled the great John Rillie with a career-best 28 points including 7/10 from his three-point attempts as well as five rebounds and four assists as his Bullets went into the break leading 52-27.

The stats were damning for Sydney. Just 10 baskets from 44 attempts, a shooting clip of just 22 per cent. Just a single three-pointer from 16 attempts (6.3 per cent). Just two assists for the entire half. 

The Kings were actually winning the rebound count as well, but couldn't find a way to put anything together with the rock in hand.

There were attempts at comebacks in the third and fourth quarters but the Bullets never really looked like being chased down. It was a vital result for both sides, with Brisbane firmly in the mix for a top four spot and the Kings in real danger of missing out.

Nathan Sobey was prolific as usual with 19 points, four rebounds and five assists while Lamar Patterson had 13 points and four rebounds. 

In an encouraging sign for the Bullets, newly minted import BJ Johnson finished with 12 points and four rebounds after missing all eight shots in his debut match against Cairns.

"All within our hands" has become the Bullets' mantra as they wrestle for a spot in the top four and coach Andrej Lemanis praise his side for their grunt once again.

"I thought there were good signs in the Cairns game around our grunt on the defensive end and our willingness to have each other's back ... I thought that carried into tonight's game," he said.

"It is in our own hands, control, effort and energy - we can control that. That is a good place to be and an enjoyable place to be. We maintain that focus, and the wins and losses can take care of themselves."

The challenge gets bigger for Brisbane, with Perth next on the menu at Nissan Arena on Saturday. That includes the return of former Bullet Will Magnay in enemy colours, complementing the already formidable John Mooney in the paint.

"I hope (Mooney) gets his NBA opportunity off the back of what he has been able to do in the NBL," Lemanis said.

"In terms of our group, I have really good faith in our bigs. We have got the twin towers, so to speak (in Matt Hodgson and Tyrell Harrisson). What Hodgo and Tye can do over the course of 40 minutes is pretty formidable. I am feeling really good about that, and it should be a good matchup."

To be fair to the travelling Kings, they came into the match severely undermanned with Shaun Bruce joining Angus Glover and DJ Vasiljevic on the sidelines while Didi Louzada is shining on the NBA floor for the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Jordan Hunter toiled as always to notch up a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds with Jarell Martin adding 13 points and latest recruit Jarrad Weeks splashed 10 after moving from New Zealand. 

It was a disappointing night for Casper Ware who could only manage six points on 3/12 shooting in his 150th NBL match. 

Finishing the match with a shooting clip of just 31 per cent was the tale of the tape for Kings coach Adam Forde who admitted to tinkering with the rotations in order to manage the injuries.

"In the first half, when we hit our first two, I thought we can get some momentum here, but we just couldn't find our mojo," he said.

"By the end of it we were getting good looks, but Brisbane was almost daring us into shooting it. We did well defensively, we implemented some new stuff, we had to mix it up because Newls (Brad Newley) is our only wing player. 

"We had a couple of point guards and about seven guys who play the four or five spot. So there are a lot of things we can build on from that."

Forde said he is hopeful that Bruce will return for the Kings clash against Adelaide on Sunday.

It took two minutes for the Kings to get on the board as they opened the game with a clip of 1/10 in a very messy start to the game. Fortunately for the visitors, the Bullets were struggling to get going as well and they only pushed out to a 7-2 lead.

Cooks put a stop to the rot, following his shot and jamming home an authoritative dunk to make an early statement. Drmic was hurting the Bullets with triples and big man Tyrell Harrison also earned three points the hard way to keep their noses in front. 

The Bullets finally broke the shackles with an 11-0 run that stretched into the second quarter to open up a 28-17 lead and the Kings needed to find a way to make their shots drop.

No. 13 is unlucky for some, but it was a glorious number for new Bullets import BJ Johnson who missed his first 12 shots before making his first NBL basket at attempt 13. It was followed up by a Drmic steal and basket and the Bullets had a 12-point lead, their biggest of the night.

It got worse and worse for the Kings who surrendered a 19-0 run, the longest scoring run by any team in #NBL21. By the time the carnage ended the Bullets took a 52-27 lead into half-time.

Despite the commanding lead, the Bullets came back on court disjointed and frustrated which cracked the window open just a bit, with the Kings going on an 13-4 run.

Patterson put an exclamation mark on the Bullets sudden woes with a brace of missed free throws and a missed dunk when there wasn't a Kings player within cooee.

The Kings just kept chipping and chipping and a 25-point deficit slowly started to evaporate as Sydney closed to within 14. Sobey and Drmic combined to push the lead back out over 20, but the injection of Brad Newley helped the Kings chip and chip again.

In the end Brisbane still had a commanding 70-51 lead at three quarter-time, but the door was still ever-so slightly ajar for the Kings.

Once again Sydney closed within 14 as the Kings coach Adam Forde demanded his frustrated charges find some fun in their basketball again. It was like a yo-yo as the margin ballooned out to beyond 20 again, but this time there was no way back for the Kings.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 18

BRISBANE BULLETS 93 (Drmic 28, Sobey 19, Patterson 13)

SYDNEY KINGS 70 (Hunter 15, Martin 13, Weeks 10) 

BOX SCORE