'Saturday night slaughter': KD's Kings fire first shot

• ‍Why Kendric Davis should have won his first MVP‍
• 'Craig, Torrey Craig': Title X-Factor clamps Cotton‍
• 'Bromance is over': Bryce vs KD rivalry to explode

Kendric Davis has fired the first shot in his battle with six-time MVP Bryce Cotton after leading the Sydney Kings to a dominant 112-68 win over the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL26 Championship Series opener at Qudos Bank Arena.

Davis, who said he wanted to "win something they can't vote on after finishing second to Cotton in the MVP voting by two points, had 25 points and seven assists within three quarters as the Kings tore apart Adelaide on both ends of the floor to close within two games of another title.

The Kings import point guard said it was an "important" win but knew it was just one game in a five-game series.

"(It was) very important, that's what we play all year for to get home court advantage, we didn't want to lose on our home floor but we know it's just one game and we got two more games to go," Davis said in his post-game interview.

"It's a good one just because these are the two best teams standing, so anytime you can get a win no matter what it's by we're happy, but we know they're going to give us their best shot in Adelaide, it's a tough place to play.

"We've got major respect for them but everyone showed up today and the coaches had us prepared."

On the other hand, Cotton and the 36ers struggled to find any answers for Sydney's defence on the three-time champion who finished with just 10 points in 32 minutes and went 4-from-12 from the field.

He did have seven assists but that was by design as the Kings double-teamed Cotton off every ball screen and used their length and physicality, led by NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova who was going head-to-head with Stephen Curry on the biggest stage 11 years ago, to trouble the 36ers superstar.

It wasn't only Dellavedova though with Jaylin Galloway, Makauch Maluach and Torrey Craig all having their turn using their different strengths to contain the league's best player.

Adelaide's coaching staff couldn't find any solutions offensively as their big line-up featuring Zylan Cheatham and Isaac Humphries provided spacing issues, Nick Rakocevic - who can provide an outside shooting threat - was in foul trouble, while the 36ers' small-ball line-up were dominated on the offensive rebounds.

Adelaide shot under 37% from the field and just 27% from beyond the arc with Cotton, Humphries, Rakocevic and Isaac White just reaching double figures but every other 36er struggling to make an impact at all.

NBL commentator Jack Heverin summed the result up perfectly, saying it was a "Saturday night slaughter".

Sydney's 44-point win was the biggest in NBL Championship Series history with the previous biggest a 37-point win by the Melbourne Tigers over the South East Melbourne Magic in 1997.

The Kings were also clinical offensively, led by Davis and import big man Tim Soares with 22 points and eight rebounds, and Craig providing his usual immediate impact off the bench with 11 quick-fire points on top of six rebounds.

"It's just the finals, everything matters, every possession, I've been in a lot of games like this so I'm fortunate enough to have the experience to know the intensity and what it takes to get games like this and I tried to show it," Craig said post game.

"(KD and Soares) were unbelievable, but that just shows you the type of team we have, any guy can explode on any given day.

"We just have so many weapons and that's why I said earlier, no teams have what we have."

Craig said he expected changes from a fired-up 36ers outfit in game two.

"I mean, we're expecting it to be a fight, it's the finals for a reason, the top two teams, I'm pretty sure they're going to go back home feeling some type of way about this game, so we've got to be ready for their best punch andbe ready for a fight," he said.

Galloway (15 points) and Maluach (12 points) also contributed offensively for the Kings.

If it was even possible for the rivalry between Sydney and Adelaide to get spicier, it might have after the game following a confrontation between Rakocevic and Kings assistant coach Andrew Bogut.

The only worrying sign for the Kings was a possible injury late in the game to Galloway.

Game two is in Adelaide on March 27.