NBL 2014/15 Round 5: Childress proves too much for Sixers in Motum's NBL Debut
Coming off a convincing win on Friday to the Hawks, the Kings were looking to build some momentum against the 36ers on Sunday. After signing NBA hopeful Brock Motum mid way through this week, Adelaide was expecting big things from the ex Utah Jazz.
Right from the opening tip this was an up and down affair. Sydney were looking to attack early and get the ball up quickly in transition. This lead to what was perhaps the play of the year. After a Childress block, he took the ball flying down the court, Perry running the wing along side him, after a quick glance Childress lobbed the ball up towards the rim and the 6’1 Perry came flying through for the alley-oop jam!!!
Motum getting his first NBL experience with 3:50 left in the first, immediately made his presence felt with a 3 pointer to tie things up at 17. The rest of the quarter saw him show just how good he can be in this league, scoring 8 of his 28 in the last 3 minutes of the opening period.
The second quarter saw Ben Madgen and Adam Gibson put on a shooting clinic. The Kings however, had an answer for every 36ers run. The scores at the half showed how high scoring this game was going to be. Both sides went to the locker room in a dead heat as each team scored a whooping 54 points a piece.
Neither team was going to take the foot off the pedal to begin the second half. A couple of threes for Madgen and a two point shot by Perry had Wright calling an early time out. The lead ballooned to 10 early in the 3rd as the 36ers struggled to score against the solid Kings defence.
With the 36ers still struggling to hit from outside the Kings took advantage, moving the ball and getting easy looks to start the 4th. With the lead extending to 15, it looked like the momentum with the purple and gold was too much for the 36ers.
Childress was dominating on both ends, grabbing all of his 19 rebounds three feet above anyone else and scoring at will. It was easily Childress best game leading the Kings in just about every category, totaling 36 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks on the night.
Motum and Gibson wouldn’t let the Kings get the win quite so easily, as they continued to keep Adelaide’s hopes alive. After some clutch shots from Gibson the lead was cut to 5 with 16 seconds to go. In the end though it was Perry, who managed to seal the game at the line with 4 free throws. Sydney finishing the weekend with two in the win column, sending the 36ers home to face Melbourne United next week.
Sydney Kings 107 (Childress 36, Madgen 26, Garlepp 15)
Adelaide 36ers 100 (Gibson, 30, Motum 28, Crawford 14)
@ Qantas Credit Union Arena