Enjoying their best jump in nine years, the Sydney Kings serve the Illawarra Hawks most barbarously, winning 90 – 73 to keep their spot atop the NBL ladder.
They now sit at 4 – 1 in the early going as they have won their last four since losing first-up to the Brisbane Bullets on October 8.
For pure entertainment, the Perth Wildcats might be the team to watch. They are currently second on the ladder, with one fewer wins than the Kings, but they have been staging overtime on regular basis, something much more compelling to the fan not interested in games such as the 17-point shellacking the Kings applied to the Hawks.
It has been three seasons since Sydney has won four consecutive, so new rookie Sydney coach Andrew Gaze is receiving the royal treatment, for the time being, at least, since sports is very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately proposition.
The Kings relied on balanced scoring that saw Brad Newley lead the way with 20 points, supported by Kevin Lisch with 19 and Jason Cadee with 14 points.
The Kings are not simply filling the hole, either, they established a NBL record with 11 steals in the third quarter, six from Lisch and four from Newley.
