JackJumpers Fire at Both Ends to Beat Kings

With Will Magnay a dominant force inside and Josh Magette again leading the charge from the outside, the Tasmania JackJumpers have made it three consecutive wins, downing the Sydney Kings 77-70 on Friday night.

Both teams came into the clash at MyState Bank Arena having won their last two games and being in their best patch of form of #NBL22. Sydney then started well with Jaylen Adams dominating the first quarter to be up nine after one.

The JackJumpers, though, got rolling in the second period and shot a remarkable 7/9 from three-point range to go into half-time leading by six following a 14-0 run with Magette, Magnay, Josh Adams and Jack McVeigh all scoring at least eight points.

Sydney shot just 6/17 for the quarter opposed to that and once Tasmania took that lead into half-time, they never surrendered the advantage throughout the second half. They secured the seven-point win to make it three straight victories for the first time in their history.

Will Magnay likely played his best game in JackJumpers colours and was the dominant big man in the game. He finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks – but his impact was much more significant than that suggests with his presence.

Josh Magette again top-scored hitting 4/10 from deep on his way to 18 points while Jack McVeigh is in his best patch of form of the season too with another 17 points and eight rebounds.

Josh Adams added 16 points, rebounds and four assists to be another strong contributor for the winners.

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was a happy and proud man afterwards.

"I've never had this feeling here before so it's all good right now," Roth said.

"It's obviously our first kind of streak and the guys played very well especially in the second half just in general by knuckling down, making some plays and grinding the game out. 

"I'm just really proud of them and the effort they are giving on a daily basis, and the culture they are building. It was a heck of a win for us."

The Kings just didn’t have enough contributors in the end with only eight players hitting the floor.

Xavier Cooks was huge with 18 points and 13 rebounds with Jarell Martin adding 16 points and nine boards, and Jaylen Adams 24 points, four rebounds and four assists despite shooting 6/19 from the floor and 1/9 from deep.

Sydney coach Chase Buford was frustrated afterwards, but ultimately the biggest factor was his team shooting 3/23 from downtown for the night despite 33 free-throw attempts.

"We shot a ton of free-throws and we were attacking the rim, and getting fouled a lot. I think we shot 27 free throws in the second half so that's probably why we only five made field goals," Buford said.

"Honestly I thought in the second quarter when they made their run we didn’t take some great looks and had some early threes that weren't the best. But in the second half, Dejan had some great looks with wide open threes that didn't go down. 

"Jaylen Adams had a couple of layups that rimmed out and we all had a few rim out. Magnay had a few blocks but it was just one of those night where you have to make some shots."

The Kings were fresh off their two best performances of the season and started on fire on Friday night with a Jarell Martin triple, Xavier Cooks bucket and they led 5-0, and not long after that 14-8 on the back of another five points to the on fire Jaylen Adams.

The Kings kept being aggressive, though, and with Adams putting up nine points and three assists for the quarter, they led 24-15 after one shooting 52 per cent from the floor opposed to 33 from the JackJumpers.

Adams then went up to 11 points for the Kings to start the second term and Sydney were still up six before the JackJumpers got rolling in remarkable fashion to set the Hobart fans alight.

Will Magnay ignited it by blocking shots up one end and hitting a three up the other before Josh Magette nailed three triples in no time. They went on a 14-0 run and that helped them lead 44-38 at the long break having shot 7/9 from downtown in that second period.

McVeigh hit another triple for Tasmania to see their lead grow to nine to open the second half but Sydney responded in kind through Martin and were soon back within four.

The JackJumpers pressure was leading to turnovers and fast break points, though, including a finish for Sam McDaniel to push the lead back out to eight before Sydney dined at the foul line, making seven separate trips there for the quarter.

Despite that, the home team still led 58-54 by three quarter-time and really, the Kings never quite got close enough to threaten in the fourth term. Every time they did challenge, the JackJumpers had an answer whether it was getting a stop, a Magnay flush or another Magette three-point bomb.

Both teams have a short turnaround to backing up on Sunday with the JackJumpers heading to Melbourne to take on United while the Kings will be playing host to the New Zealand Breakers.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 77 (Magette 18, McVeigh 17, Adams 16)

SYDNEY KINGS 70 (Adams 24, Cooks 18, Martin 16) 

BOX SCORE