Heartland Hustle: Phoenix Take on Ladder-Leading Kings

Just seventeen days ago, South East Melbourne Phoenix and the Sydney Kings battled it out in a game for the history books.

Highly regarded as the best game of the season, the Round 11 clash had a bit of everything. A sold-out Gippsland crowd and an epic battle between Mitch Creek and Derrick Walton Jr as they went bucket-for-bucket on their way to 46 and 45 points respectively, and finally, a double overtime nail-biter resulting in a one-point win for the Phoenix.

Since that memorable game, Phoenix has been hit with injury woes with Gary Browne and Ryan Broekhoff both missing the last three games as well as Zhou Qi returning home to China for family reasons. Covid and illness have also been going throughout the squad with players testing positive to covid over the Xmas and New Year period.

Phoenix had a tough loss on Sunday afternoon when they went down to the Tasmania JackJumpers by 25 points, where another soldier fell to injury with Trey Kell III exiting the game in the second quarter with a knock to his left knee.

The Kings have gone on to win their next two games since Gippsland while cementing their place on the top of the NBL ladder.

(Phoenix will come up against the Kings for the second time in a fortnight after their one-point win in double overtime in Gippsland.)

Key Details

SYDNEY KINGS 13-5 (1st) v SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 12-9 (4th)
Where: Qudos Bank Stadium 
When: Wednesday, January 4 at 7:30pm AEDT
Watch on ESPN via Kayo or Foxtel

The Line Up

Phoenix

Phoenix will be without import guard Trey Kell after failing to recover in time for tonight’s game from a minor knee complaint. Anzac Rissetto will replace him. In better news, sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff has made the trip to Sydney to return after sustaining a hip injury the last time Phoenix met the Kings in Gippsland.

Gary Browne remains out as he recovers from a calf injury and will be replaced by Owen Foxwell.

Kings

Kings will be sweating on if import Derrick Walton Jr will be fit for the game after twisting his ankle in the Kings win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.

The Key Match Up

Mitch Creek v Xavier Cooks

Fans missed out on the battle of the two MVP contenders in Gippsland when Cooks went down with an ankle injury, but fans weren’t disappointed as they saw Creek battle it out against Walton Jr as they combined for a 91-point game.

Creek mentioned post-game in Gippsland he was excited about the battle with Cooks, and that is what we will see tonight with a now healthy Cooks matching up against Creek and his Phoenix. Cooks has notched 47 points and 18 rebounds in the past two games, showing no signs of the injury he sustained on December 18.

Creek has continued his amazing stretch of form but criticised himself on Sunday following the loss to the JackJumpers for turning the ball over too many times along with teammate Alan Williams, and for allowing the JackJumpers bigs to out rebound them for the game.

(Broekhoff will return to the court tonight after recovering from his hip injury sustained in the Gippsland win over the Kings.)

The History

Regular Season Head-to-Head: 
South East Melbourne Phoenix 2-10 Sydney Kings 

Last time out – Rd 11, NBL23
Phoenix 113–112 Kings (2OT) 

Phoenix
Creek 46p
Kell 21p
Williams 10p

Kings
Walton Jr 45p
Soares 12p
Noi 12p

The Difference Makers

Alan Williams

Williams returned after an ankle sprain against the JackJumpers and made an immediate impact on the court and around the rim for the team. Williams notched up his ninth double-double in Sunday’s game with 21 points and 11 rebounds but was in foul trouble and had a high turnover rate which he will be hoping to rectify tonight.

Derrick Walton Jr

Walton Jr had a day out when he came up against the Phoenix last time. He stepped up in the absence of Cooks and had 45 points and ten assists. Since then, he has averaged 10 points and six assists, but is always a threat and could turn it on again when meeting the Phoenix tonight.

(Williams will be one to watch as the Phoenix come up against a healthy Cooks tonight.)

Phoenix Media (04/01/23)