Phoenix continue rise with first win over Kings

A dominant Mitch Creek, imposing Ben Moore and strong back court contributions was all a combination to see the South East Melbourne Phoenix record their first ever win over the Sydney Kings, 98-84, at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday.

The Phoenix had lost their opening five attempts against the Kings, but virtually from go to woe on Sunday afternoon they held Sydney at arm's length before running away with it in the fourth quarter for the 14-point win.

The Phoenix had to bounce back from a two-point loss in Wollongong to the Hawks on Friday but now with this win they have won seven of their past eight to be building some impressive momentum with a 13-9 record.

It was a tough loss to take for Sydney and they did miss the firepower of rookie DJ Vasiljevic who will miss 12 months with a ruptured Achilles. The Kings have now lost four of the last five to have slipped to 10-12 on the season.

It was quite the impressive showing from the Phoenix and it was Mitch Creek who set the tone with 20 points in the first half. He finished with 26 for the game along with five rebounds while hitting 4/7 from deep.

Ben Moore was outstanding inside too for 20 points and six rebounds on 9/12 shooting while Yanni Wetzell offered good support with 11 points, three boards and three assists.

South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell still found some areas of improvement, but was happy enough with the performance for the most part.

"The importance of taking care of the ball on the road is probably my initial thoughts. The last game against Illawarra we just punted it around the gym and a lot of it was self-inflicted," Mitchell said.

"I just thought tonight the guys made a concerted effort to be careful with the ball without becoming a negative offensive team. I thought our patience was really good so from that standpoint I was pretty happy with the team, and I thought defensively we were pretty solid. 

"We just need to get better at stopping guys getting offensive boards and second chance points, but you're always happy to get a win here in Sydney."

Jarell Martin looked unstoppable at times for Sydney and had 23 points and seven rebounds while Ware had to work hard for his 20 points on 6/14 shooting with four turnovers and no assists.

Shaun Bruce and Jordan Hunter scored 11 points, but the Kings didn’t get enough from others needing to step up in the absence of Vasiljevic.

Kings coach Adam Forde felt his team's energy was boring and he has no idea why.

"It's disappointing. We were just flat and I'm guilty of that too. If we're being honest and completely transparent, we looked bored out there and that was disappointing," Forde said.

"In our timeouts, our energy was boring, the bench was boring, our talk on defence was non-existent so we looked bored. 

"There was one point at the start of the fourth and there was a point we built up a little bit of momentum and it was a five-point game, but you just had this vibe when you looked down at everybody's faces with the way we were carrying ourselves that you'd think we were getting smoked by 30. 

"It was probably one of our most disappointing games of the season."

Sydney opened the game on fire and when Casper Ware drilled a three, they were up 11-4 but the Phoenix soon warmed to the task starting with a pair of threes to Cam Gliddon.

South East Melbourne would then go on an 11-3 run but Sydney was still up 25-21 by quarter-time thanks to a three just before the buzzer from Shaun Bruce.

It was then Creek's turn to take over the game in the second quarter. He ended up going 4/5 from deep for the half and scored a season-best 20 points up to half-time.

At one stage he had helped the Phoenix to a nine-point advantage but by the break the Kings had done enough to stay in touch and trail by just the five points. 

Ben Moore scored two easy inside baskets to start the second half forcing Adam Forde into an early timeout. It appeared to work with Jarell Martin then taking over the game for the Kings with 10 quick points in the space of four minutes.

But the Phoenix continued to have the answers and they went on an 8-0 run late in the third quarter to be up 72-65 after three.

Sydney was attempting to stay in touch but it was Yanni Wetzell who slammed the door closed on back-to-back possessions. He firstly blocked Jordan Hunter at the rim and then up the other end, he made a bucket and was fouled, made it a three-point play and Sydney led 83-73.

From there Moore further closed the door with his own and-one, Adnam and Gliddon knocked down threes and the Phoenix cruised to their first ever win over the Kings closing with a 7-0 run to prevail by 14.

The two teams now do it all again on Thursday night also at Qudos Bank Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Martin 23, Ware 20, Bruce 11, Hunter 11)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 98 (Creek 26, Moore 20, Gliddon 12) 

BOX SCORE