Perth Wildcats vs Sydney Kings - Sunday Preview

Game Details
Perth Wildcats vs Sydney Kings
12.00pm WST Sunday 30 January @ Qudos Bank Arena
Watch LIVE on 10 Preach & ESPN – available via Kayo or Foxtel

Context
This is the Perth Wildcats first matchup with the Sydney Kings of the 2021/22 NBL Season. The Wildcats have been on the road since 27 December, winning three of four away games in that time. They’re coming off back-to-back wins over the highly touted Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong. Scorers Bryce Cotton, Vic Law and Todd Blanchfield starred in those games, but a focus for Scott Morrison will be his team’s starts to quarter.
The Sydney Kings are coming off back-to-back games against the Brisbane Bullets, where they split the results. In their most recent outing, they piled on 97 points on Dejan Vasiljevic’s game high 23 points.
The Wildcats are second in the standings with a 7-2 record, while the Kings are 4-6 so far this season.

What the coach had to say
Scott Morrison on preparation: 
“We haven’t had much time to prepare for Sydney yet, obviously you see most of the games in the league on TV and the coaching staff have begun a bit of preparation for that game, but it’s a quick turnaround, so we’ll have to keep our scouting report and our game plan pretty simple and hope that we can bring the intensity, bring our team work, communication, stuff like that and play together. We have a plan for whatever we see, it’s just a matter if we execute it or not, so we’ll have to turn our attention pretty quick. I think we’re going to take some time to rest in the next 24 hours as it’s been quite a grind.”

Roster Availability 
Corey Shervill is the only player unavailable for this game (foot).

Opponents to watch out for
Import Jaylen Adams is Sydney’s highest scorer so far this season, averaging 17.8 points per game, followed by big man Jarell Martin who averages 15.6 to go with 9.7 rebounds. Xavier Cooks has also been impressive while fellow young gun Dejan Vasiljevic has shot the three-ball at 44.4 per cent since returning from injury.

Last time they met
The Perth Wildcats swept the Sydney Kings across five comes in 2021. Their last game was on 27 May 2021 when, despite missing Bryce Cotton, the Wildcats won 81-67 on the back of a game-high 23 points from Todd Blanchfield. Luke Travers had a career-best 16 points.

Fun Facts and Stats
Bryce Cotton owns two of the top-four individual scores for Wildcats playing against Sydney, with 39 and 36 performances to his name. Rob Feaster holds the record with 40 points against the Kings in 2003.
The Perth Wildcats averaged 10.1 made threes per game this season, which is the second most in their history after the 2020 season, where they defeated Sydney in the Grand Final to win the championship.
Mitch Norton is two points away from 2,000 career points.

History
The Perth Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 against Sydney, with the loss coming in the very first COVID affected NBL game, where fans were barred from entering Game Two of the 2020 Grand Final. Perth haven’t lost at Qudos Bank Arena since November 2019. Since the Kings return to the Olympic Park in 2016, the Wildcats have won eight of their 12 matchups.