[ad_1]
A camera trained on a laptop was floated as an unlikely hero as the Kings outlasted a resurgent Taipans in an extraordinary night at the Cairns Convention Centre.
A power issue left the shot clocks inoperable, with a 50-minute stoppage in the round 10 clash before the teams agreed to play without a shot clock for the second half.
The long delay meant the game lasted almost three hours, but it was the Kings who turned their hot start into a crucial 86-83 win at the Snakepit.
A long range bomb from Jonah Antonio appeared to force overtime but the sharpshooter got the shot off just after the buzzer sounded, handing Sydney the win.
Jaylen Adams led the Kings with 24 points and Jordan Hunter had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double among five visitors to hit double figures.
For Cairns, Patrick Miller had 22 points and seven assists, on a night the on-court action almost became secondary,
POWER OUTAGE
The shot clocks at both ends went out as the teams completed their warm-up ahead of the second half, with crews working frantically to address the issue.
The stoppage lasted 50 minutes before play resumed.
Teams remained on court, with players from opposing sides seen chatting courtside, though the majority of players were putting up shots.
The longer the stoppage went, the fewer remained, as officials scrambled for a solution.
NBL CEO Dave Stephenson, who was at the game with NBA scouts, addressed the issue on the broadcast, revealing how a clock on a laptop would become the saviour of the first game of the DC Multiverse Round.
“We’ve had a whole lot of power challenges tonight, looks like a circuit breaker is gone, so they’re working their way through it,” he said on the ESPN broadcast on Foxtel.
“We’ve got an innovative model.
“We’re trying to put a camera on a laptop screen which will give a shot clock and a timer, and get that up on the big (screen), then at least the players will know how much time is left.
“We’ll work our way through it, I think we’ll be fine, but it’s part of the joys of live sport.
“They’re professionals, they’ll come back, it will get through the second half and it will all be fine.”
That solution was not ultimately needed, as both teams agreed to play on without a shot clock.
The two-time defending champion Kings lead 48-37 at the break, with the Taipans slowly working their way back into the contest.
The Kings romped to a 33-15 lead by the end of the first quarter, as poor shooting by Cairns – a measly 33 per cent from the field, including 0-from-12 from three – bringing the offence to a standstill.
Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah said it was a career-first.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like this, but we just have to go with the flow,” Abdelfattah said.
THE BIG DRY
When it rains it pours, but when the buckets dry up for a team unafraid to let it fly, it is a tough, tough watch.
Fresh off a record-setting outing against Melbourne United, in which the Taipans put up the highest score of NBL24 (115pts) with the best field goal percentage in franchise history, the script flipped as they failed to buy a bucket against the Kings.
The home side shot at a measly 35 per cent from the field, including 0-from-12 from three, as the Kings romped to an 18-point lead by quarter time.
It took until the 15th minute of the contest, halfway through the second quarter, for Bul Kuol to land Cairns’ first three – and it came on attempt No.15.
If it felt familiar, that’s because it was – the Kings endured a similarly tough time when they met in round five.
Both teams are back in action this round, as the Taipans travel to Adelaide to face the 36ers on Saturday, and the Kings host the Phoenix in a Sunday afternoon blockbuster.
Originally published as NBL round 10: Bizarre scenes as power drama halts Kings’ 86-83 win over Taipans
[ad_2]
Source link