Kings take charge in Perth to advance

Makuach Maluach had his career night, Matthew Dellavedova was at his ferocious best, Kendric Davis fired when it mattered and the Sydney Kings had too much for the Perth Wildcats to win 89-75 and advance to the NBL Championship Series.

The Kings finished the regular season on fire with an 11-game winning streak to claim top spot but after a three-week break. They were pushed all the way in Game 1 of the Playoffs with Perth at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday.

They did survive to win by a point with the series moving to RAC Arena on Saturday. Even without Dylan Windler, the back court of Elijah Pepper and Ben Henshall fired Perth to the 46-43 advantage at half-time.

From there, though, it was all the Kings as they outscored the 'Cats 46-29 in the second half and advance to the Championship Series on a 13-game winning streak.

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Davis at one point was shooting 6/19, but finished going 9/23 for another 27 points, five rebounds and five assists with Maluach having the night of his burgeoning NBL career with 23 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Torrey Craig added 12 points and then Matthew Dellavedova not only had 11 points and five assists, but was instrumental in limiting Kristian Doolittle to 15 points on 3/15 shooting.

The season is now over for the Wildcats with Henshall finishing with 20 points and six rebounds but he had just three in the second half battling a calf complaint.

Pepper also had 12 points and nine rebounds with Jo Lual-Acuil Jr finishing with nine points, 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

It was a perfect start for the Kings to try and keep the Perth crowd quiet scoring the first four points through Matthew Dellavedova and Xavier Cooks before Ben Henshall and Elijah Pepper responded for the Wildcats.

Kendric Davis hit the next five points for Sydney and Jaylin Galloway and Torrey Craig both made three balls to give the Kings the 15-6 advantage.

That's when the 'Cats responded and it was the back court of Henshall and Pepper keeping them afloat as they combined for 12 first quarter points on 5/7 shooting. Pepper's three ball late gave the home team the 23-22 edge after one.

Pepper also started the second quarter with another three ball and Jesse Wagstaff chimed in too to put the Wildcats on top by seven but it was Makuach Maluach who led the comeback for Sydney.

He scored 10 quick points to help the Kings back to the lead but it was the 'Cats up 46-43 going into half-time on the back of two late triples from Henshall as he had 17 points.

After just four points on three shot attempts in the first half, Kristian Doolittle opened the second half with a three-pointer for Perth but Kendric Davis responded in kind for Sydney before Tim Soares and Maluach joined in.

It was a low-scoring third quarter, but the Kings did hold the Wildcats to just 13 points and took a one-point lead into the fourth, and that's when they took control.

Even having shot just 6/19 on the night up to that point, Davis hit a couple of big shots as part of an 8-0 run where Galloway and Maluach also scored before Davis made a triple to stretch that advantage to 10.

Sydney dominated the rest of the way including scoring the game's last eight points to win by 14 and advance to a Championship Series where they await the winners of Game 3 between the Adelaide 36ers and South East Melbourne Phoenix.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS – PLAYOFFS SERIES 2, GAME 2

PERTH WILDCATS 75 (Henshall 20, Doolittle 15, Pepper 12)

SYDNEY KINGS 89 (Davis 27, Maluach 23, Craig 12)

BOX SCORE

The schedule

As of the completion of games on Saturday, March 14

Playoffs Series 1

Adelaide is tied with South East Melbourne 1-1

Game 3
Adelaide 36ers v South East Melbourne Phoenix
Tuesday, March 17 - 7.30pm AEDT
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Tickets | 36ers Finals Hub

Playoffs Series 2

Sydney defeated Perth 2-0