Game 1: 5 things were learned from the 44pt blowout

• ‍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

Don't write off the Adelaide 36ers yet, but it's hard not to think the Sydney Kings have one hand on the NBL26 championship after their clinical 44-point win in the series opener.

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.

The result puts all the pressure on the 36ers coaching staff heading into the all-important Game 2 in Adelaide on Friday if they are to keep the franchise's hopes of breaking a 24-year championship hoodoo alive.

Although Adelaide's coaching staff, especially Mike Wells, have received their fair share of criticism in NBL26, let's not forget they had all the answers in the deciding do-or-die game three against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Kings are a different proposition, though, and the legendary Brian Goorjian, as well as his coaching staff, which includes Australian basketball icon Andrew Bogut, had the perfect game plan to not only slow down the 36ers but to slow down six-time MVP Bryce Cotton.

Following Sydney's record-breaking victory over Adelaide in the series opener, let's take a look at five key takeaways from game one.

WHERE WERE ADELAIDE'S OFFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS?

Surely Adelaide weren't surprised by Sydney's defensive game plan for Cotton? They shouldn't have been considering the Kings have done that against Cotton and the 36ers several times this season.

The only real difference was starting Matthew Dellavedova with the task of guarding Cotton one-on-one, rather than past contests, when it was Bul Kuol, Makauch Maluach, and even Jaylin Galloway. It didn't shock me, and I spoke about that on the latest edition of Cut to the Jase with Jason Cadee and Derek Rucker. Delly loves those challenges, as evidenced by his battles with Stephen Curry in the 2015 NBA Finals.

But, of course, the Kings were going to trap Cotton off pick and rolls, ice some side pick and rolls - which means to send away from the screen with the big staying in front of the ball handler - and then off the ball, they were going to deny him and even top lock the three-time champion.

As Andrew Gaze and Rucker pointed out on the coverage, their tactic was clear: "Anyone but Cotton".

But Adelaide seemed too predictable on the offensive end, playing into the Kings' hands by using terminal ball-screen sets for Cotton, which allowed the Kings to get the ball out of his hands without having to guard any actions leading up to it. From there, Cotton's teammates struggled to make any plays, and the big lineup of Isaac Humphries and Zylan Cheatham, two non-shooters, also played into Sydney's hands.

We saw some line-up changes with Wells trying to provide more spacing with more shooting on the floor, but it still didn't prove fruitful, and they were dominated on the glass at the other end.

But what about the two other options? One, taking a leaf out of Goorjian's book on how he uses Davis. We saw it in game one of the semi-finals against the Perth Wildcats, where he used Davis off the ball and either coming into actions at pace or setting screens first, causing the defence to trail Davis before he regularly went into dribble hand-offs, ball screens or was just able to attack a defender in a chasing situation. We never really saw that at all for Cotton, and think about the system he dominated in finals games? Trevor Gleeson's flex system.

The second is that Wells is from the NBA. Let's dive into what the NBA game is like - especially in the playoffs. Go mismatch hunting. Now, I know there's barely any weak links defensively for the Kings, but why not put Adelaide's other shooters in screening actions with Cotton? Either you draw two defenders to the ball in a trap, and someone like DJ Vasiljevic gets open, or they switch guard-to-guard, and Cotton can go one-on-one with a bit of space.

Let's see if we see either of those in game two.

RAKOCEVIC NEEDS TO STAY OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE

Adelaide needs to start Nick Rakocevic. Yes, he got in foul trouble in game one, but he has been one of the 36ers' most damaging players in the playoffs, and he's the only one of Adelaide's bigs who appears confident of letting it fly from the perimeter.

The big line-up of Isaac Humphries with Zylan Cheatham can't be seen for as long as it was in game one with the way the Kings defended Cotton. Both have shown they are capable of shooting the three-ball, but neither looked for it in the series opener, and neither looked even confident in making plays out of the short roll.

One of them can play alongside Rakocevic, who needs to be the big in the screening actions with Bryce as much as possible. Gear up to play 30-plus minutes if you're Rakocevic.

Then, in the minutes in between, choose your poison; no lineup is going to be great against this Kings roster. Either you go big and lack shooting for some spare minutes, or you go small and struggle on the glass. Either choice must be able to survive or remain neutral for 5 to 10 minutes.

NOSTALGIA IS COOL

Something I thought about during game one was how cool it is to see two legends of Australian basketball in Matthew Dellavedova and Andrew Bogut trying to win an NBL championship together, 10 years after the pair and their teams in the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors were battling it out in one of the best NBA Finals of all-time.

As a LeBron fan, just to clarify, that's when the Cavs came back from 3-1 down to beat the 73-9 Warriors.

I DON'T AGREE WITH MY MATE DEREK RUCKER

Does anyone have an answer for the way Kendric Davis is playing right now? Especially with the talent he has around him? Probably not.

But unlike my guy Derek Rucker, who was our special guest on the latest edition of Cut to the Jase, I don't know if giving Sydney a dose of their own medicine is the right call. And by that, I mean being aggressive with coverages on Davis, especially in ball screen situations.

Why? To me, Adelaide doesn't have the same defensive quality as Sydney does. Davis tore apart the opposition when the 36ers chose to double, hard show or even switch aggressively. He's too quick, and the 36ers aren't as good at their coverages as Sydney. On top of that, he can use Xavier Cooks in short roll and attacking situations - something he's elite at. Soares can shoot the ball and also attack the paint, and there are too many perimeter threats for the Kings.

Yes, KD can get hot from the three-point line. He shot the ball at 35% this season on 6.6 attempts per game, according to Spatial Jam. He went 2-for-4 in the series opener. But could Adelaide focus on keeping him out of the paint, where he can go to his strengths and also get the 36ers in rotations to find his teammates? Could Adelaide go passive, even go under and force Davis to bomb away? What about switching and giving space while providing some gap and nail presence to help on drives against mismatches? Is a zone a possibility?

If Adelaide goes more aggressive, I actually think it could be a recipe for disaster in Game 2, and the series might be all but done.

SOARES STANDS UP

It's only been one game, but the best big in the series right now is Tim Soares.

The American-Brazilian import had one of the best games of his NBL career in the series opener, providing an impact Adelaide's big men would have dreamt of.

While it's Zylan Cheatham and Nick Rakocevic who have signed extensions with their club, Soares is proving why he was the perfect fit to return to the Kings for a tilt at another title after winning one in 2023.

Second in points only behind Davis, the 29-year-old had 22 on an efficient 8-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, along with eight rebounds and three assists.

Soares is showing why big names aren't always the right way to go in NBL recruiting; most of the time, it's about fit, as we have spoken about on Cut to the Jase all season.

If he continues to be the dominant big man in the series, the Kings might bring the brooms out at Qudos Bank Arena next Sunday.

NBL26 Championship Schedule

Game 1
Sydney Kings 112 Adelaide 36ers 68
Saturday, March 21 – 7pm AEDT
📍 Qudos Bank Arena

Game 2
Adelaide 36ers vs Sydney Kings
Friday, March 27 – 7:30pm AEDT
📍 Adelaide Entertainment Centre
📺 ESPN & 10 Drama (Sydney & Adelaide)

Game 3
Sydney Kings vs Adelaide 36ers
Sunday, March 29 – 2:30pm AEDT
📍 Qudos Bank Arena
📺 ESPN & Channel 10

Game 4 (if required)
Adelaide 36ers vs Sydney Kings
Wednesday, April 1 – 7:30pm AEDT
📍 Adelaide Entertainment Centre
📺 ESPN

Game 5 (if required)
Sydney Kings vs Adelaide 36ers
📍 Qudos Bank Arena – Details TBC
📺 ESPN