Life's a beach for winning Kings

The Sydney Kings entered Sunday’s game against Tasmania ready to play and, looking at how the game panned out, it certainly didn’t look like the league’s worst defence up against the league’s best offence.

The Kings turned it on defensively against the usually sharpshooting JackJumpers and restricted their opposition to just nine points in the second quarter.

The victory came off the back of a split Round 10, where Sydney defeated Cairns, before falling to an undermanned South East Melbourne.

Head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah says an added moment of introspection for the group last week helped set the Kings up for the win.

“We gave them extra days off, [we] decided to go to Bondi one day and then we went to Bronte the other day to allow them to understand life is bigger than basketball,” Abdelfattah said following the win.

“To clear their minds ready for the second half of the season. Truly, that was it. Guys just came ready to compete and they put forth their best efforts and showed what they can actually do.

“Once we land in Sydney we’re going straight to Bondi. You guys think I’m joking, but that’s truly what we did last week and the guys enjoyed it. More beach days.”

The victory over the JackJumpers has moved the Kings to a 9-6 record on the season and has shifted Sydney back above Tasmania to second on the ladder.

The Kings are equal with Perth and Tasmania on nine wins for the season, but the JackJumpers have played one more game than their counterparts.

Sydney passed the halfway point of the season with its victory over Cairns last week, and Abdelfattah says his side will continue its ‘one game at a time’ mentality across the remainder of NBL24.

“This is the first game of the second half. That’s what we talked about and that was the way to start it off,” he said.

“We’ve been talking about from the start of the season that you’ve got to focus on the games ahead and then just worry about what’s next.

“Whatever happened here tonight – we came out and battled – we can enjoy it on the flight home and we’ve got to get ready for New Zealand and Illawarra over the Christmas break.”

Sydney will next play New Zealand on December 22 before hosting Illawarra at Qudos Bank Arena on Christmas Day.