'Murderers' row': KD shows up and out vs BC, AC, PJC

• All 165 games of the NBL27 season in one list
• Every NBL27 roster, squad list and projected depth chart
• Every injured NBL player, with expected return dates

Head coach Will Weaver’s Brisbane Bullets haven’t even played a game yet – and he’s already called it.

Sydney Kings’ two-time MVP runner-up Kendric Davis ($436,000) stepped off the plane last week, raised the NBL26 championship banner on Sunday, September 20, 2026, and poured in 26 points in 29:08 less than 48 hours after six-time MVP Bryce Cotton ($473,900) put up 29 points against Cole Anthony ($300,000)'s 30, and a couple of hours after Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200)’s 23-point, 13-assist double-double.

The Kings crushed the Taipans 111-90 at Afterpay Arena while Weaver’s star Lithuanian point guard Arnas Velicka ($277,000) plays his first NBL game on Tuesday, September 22.

“The world is shrinking on the basketball side, which is a good thing,” Weaver told Jason Cadee in an exclusive interview on Cut to the Jase.

“And it's going to create more of what we're seeing this year. I mean, it's a murderers' row night in, night out.

“You're going to be going against dudes who have logged NBA games or certainly would be capable of logging NBA games still, like not as just ‘oh that was in their distant past,’ and they're on some retirement post.

“It's like night one you got PJC and night two you got Tyler Harvey ($271,700) and night three here comes Kendric (Davis) you know just keeps spinning around and everybody's going to feel that way and so it's going to make the world think that us coaches know what we're doing because these freaking point guards are going to be making really good decisions possession after possession.”

Davis, who turned 27 in the off-season, went 9-for-19 and 3-for-8 from deep, to go with five rebounds and six assists. He matched Xavier Cooks ($308,000) for a team-high +21.

“He’s an engine that way, and he doesn’t want to come off the court,” seven-time NBL championship coach Brian Goorjian said about whether Davis wanted to put up 30+ to make a statement in Round 1.

“When it’s over, a lot of times he’ll look at me and say, ‘Get these guys in there.’

“There were seven minutes to go, and he looked over at me and said, ‘Time for me to go’.

“He’s not about the point total. Honestly, he’s not about that. He’s a scorer, and he goes after it, but winning is everything.

“When that thing was over – and it was the same last year – he turned, looked at me and said, ‘Get me out.’

“There are times when there are two minutes to go in the third quarter, and I’m going to take him off and give him a rest for the fourth quarter. He’s like, ‘No, no, no. We’ve worked hard to get where we are. I don’t want to lose it now, and I’m rolling.’

“His headspace is good in that form.”

Goorjian said Davis’ late arrival because of a passport issue meant it would take some time for the American import to find his rhythm, but his gravity had already changed the shape of the floor.

“I played the whole pre-season without him,” Goorjian added.

“There’s not a comfort on the floor yet, but the shots the other guys are getting are shots they weren’t getting in the pre-season.

“It’s because he gets in there and draws attention. Now these guys are getting much better shots and much cleaner looks. You’re getting the level scoring that you talked about – 14, 12, 10 – because he can make plays for the others.

“To me, when you talk about greatness, it’s a team sport. When you’re on the floor, the other guys are better because you’re there. That’s a big thing.

“It was there in spades. Not having Kendric here for the whole pre-season, you can see it.”

What you need to know

• Sydney Kings beat Cairns Taipans 111-90 at Afterpay Arena in NBL27 Round 1.
• Sydney won three of the four quarters, 32-26, 27-27, 31-20 and 21-17, and were never headed after the first.
• Kendric Davis scored 26 with six assists, and Keanu Pinder top-scored for Cairns with 27 on 11-from-17.
• Cairns took 44 three-pointers and made 13. Sydney took 27 and made 12.
• Sydney shot 21-from-31 at the free-throw line. Cairns went there ten times all night.

Sydney Kings

• Kendric Davis ($436,000) top-scored with 26 points and six assists on 9-from-19, including 5-from-9 at the line.
• Xavier Cooks ($308,000) added 18 points and seven rebounds on 8-from-12.
• Torrey Craig ($290,400) scored 13 on 6-from-9.
• Matthew Dellavedova ($221,300) had 12 points and six assists, and did not miss from deep or at the line, 2-from-2 and 4-from-4.
• Andrew Carr ($277,000) was perfect from the field, 4-from-4 including his only three, for 11 points.
• Will Johnston ($69,000) scored 10 off the bench on 2-from-4 from three and 4-from-4 at the line.
• Makuach Maluach ($134,500) also reached double figures with 10 on 2-from-3 from deep.
• Sydney shot 39-from-71 from the field, 12-from-27 from three and 21-from-31 at the line, with 45 rebounds, 20 assists and eight turnovers.

Cairns Taipans

• Keanu Pinder ($300,000) led all scorers with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists on 11-from-17.
• Shaun Bruce ($76,500) scored 13 off the bench, hitting three of his seven three-point attempts.
• Malique Lewis ($207,900) also had 13, on 5-from-7 including 3-from-5 from deep.
• Jaylon Brown ($277,000) had 11 points and a game-high-equalling six assists, but needed 16 shots and went 1-from-8 from three.
• Jonah Bolden ($133,600) pulled down 13 rebounds, the most by any player in the game, and scored six.
• Jack McVeigh ($349,800) scored seven on 3-from-7.
• Kyrin Galloway ($176,000) scored six on 3-from-9.
• Cairns shot 35-from-82 from the field and 13-from-44 from three, with 40 rebounds, 20 assists and nine turnovers.