'All right, here we go': Craig, Kings dunk on Bullets

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Torrey Craig ($290,400) has still got hops, and it was fitting that the 35-year-old American put the exclamation mark on Sydney's statement 93-78 win against Brisbane with a leap-out-of-your-seat and-1 lob finish from superstar Kendric Davis ($436,000) in their first Ignite Cup clash of NBL27.

"I'm just fortunate it went in," Craig said.

"I saw an angle and pointed up for KD to throw it, but I didn't think he would.

"Once he threw it, I was like, 'All right, here we go'.

"I'm glad I was able to finish that and give the crowd a little showtime, plus the win. That was good."

Torrey Craig Photo Gallery

Sydney Kings forward Torrey Craig rises up to finish at the rim in the round three NBL Ignite Cup match against the Brisbane Bullets at Afterpay Arena in Sydney on September 30, 2026. Photo: Josh Groom/basketball.com.au

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Both the Kings and Bullets came in 2-0, but in different stages of their growth – it showed after Brisbane burst to an 11-point lead early, but the defending champions ground them down and then ground them out.

Brian Goorjian started NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova ($221,300) on red-hot Lithuanian point guard Arnas Velicka ($277,000), who face-guarded the European import 94 feet. When it wasn't Delly, it was 2017 Defensive Player of the Year Craig, and when it wasn't Craig, it was Makuach Maluach ($134,500).

Velicka, 26, had back-to-back double-doubles coming in (averaging 20 points, 12.5 assists), but if any coach knows how to scout, it's the seven-time NBL Coach of the Year. Will Weaver's floor general finished with 15 points and five assists.

"Just in general, we wanted to establish a level of physicality, and that's with everyone," Craig said,

"It just happened to be me and Delly on him.

"I wanted to set the tone for the whole team, and I think the guys did a great job defending overall – not just on him, but making it tough for Tyrell (Harrison) and a lot of those guys."

Weaver was pragmatic in his post-game presser, downplaying Brisbane's hot start for a 44-43 halftime lead.

"I suppose we'll go study it," Weaver said of the second half.

"That's obviously an exceptionally good side over there – the champions at home. We struggled to take advantage sometimes of how their savvy veterans were able to place themselves in positions where we could have had a pretty significant lead in the first half.

"In the second half, I thought there were moments [for] a team that's playing the youngest roster and building together, with a lot of new faces coming together for the first time, playing on the road against the champions.

"There's tons of stuff to learn from the second half, and that's what we'll get stuck into as soon as you guys let us go."

Grand Final MVP Davis was elite despite going 0-for-7 from three. He still finished with 24 points (9-for-22), eight rebounds and seven assists to be +11 in 35:17 minutes. He wasn't the only one: Maluach had scorching 19 points (8-for-12) off the bench; Xavier Cooks ($308,000) and Andrew Carr ($277,000) both had 12 and 7, and Craig had 10 and 6.

"It's just growth," Craig said of Maluach.

"He played amazingly for us last year, but I think he's been even better this year.

"I think the game has slowed down for him a little bit. That's what playing deep into the season does. Then you have a strong off-season and pick up where you left off. I think that's what he's doing.

"His decision-making has been good. He's playing under control, and he's taking shots that he works on and can make.

"He's definitely playing at a high level right now."

Weaver said he had confidence in players, such as Max Mackinnon ($200,000), to bounce back despite a tough performance against the league leaders. Mackinnon went 3-for-11 (nine points) in 24 minutes after his breakout 31-point performance against Illawarra in Round 2.

"Our job is to watch the film and think probabilistically and have an approach that's focused on how consistently can we make the right decision, and there are a million decisions going on in every single possession," he said.

"So for any first-year player in the NBL, that's going to be a sharp adjustment. But you could say the same thing for everybody on our team.

"They've all got to adjust to me, and they've got to adjust to each other, and they've got to adjust to officiating and adjust to opponents, and that's part of what I feel like I can do a better job with is helping them know in their core that they can trust themselves and each other and the spots that they're in and play with a freedom with that knowledge and that confidence."

What you need to know

• Sydney Kings beat Brisbane Bullets 93-78 at Afterpay Arena in NBL27 Round 3, the second game of the NBL27 Ignite Cup and the first played in Australia.
• Brisbane won the first quarter 34-23 and still led 44-43 at half-time, but Sydney won the second, third and fourth quarters, 20-10, 29-14 and 21-20, to take six Ignite Cup points to Brisbane's one.
• Kendric Davis ($436,000) top-scored with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 9-from-22, and Jaylin Williams ($277,000) led Brisbane with 19 on 7-from-17.
• The game turned in the middle two quarters. Sydney outscored Brisbane 49-24 across the second and third, holding the Bullets to 10 points in the second after they had scored 34 in the first.
• Brisbane made 13 threes to Sydney's six, a 21-point edge, but Sydney scored 54 points from inside the arc to Brisbane's 30 and 21 at the line to nine.

Sydney Kings

• Kendric Davis ($436,000) top-scored with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 9-from-22, without a make from seven three-point attempts, and went 6-from-6 at the line.
• Makuach Maluach ($134,500) scored 19 off the bench on 8-from-12, including 3-from-5 from three.
• Andrew Carr ($277,000) added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 5-from-9, including 2-from-5 from three.
• Xavier Cooks ($308,000) had 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks on 4-from-5, and was a game-high plus-17.
• Torrey Craig ($290,400) scored 10 on 2-from-10 and went 5-from-5 at the line, with six rebounds, three of them offensive.
• Harry Wessels ($100,000) scored eight off the bench on 3-from-4 in 9:59.
• Will Johnston ($69,000) had five points and five rebounds off the bench on 1-from-5, and went 3-from-3 at the line.
• Sydney shot 33-from-74 from the field, 6-from-26 from three and 21-from-26 at the line, with 44 rebounds, 19 assists and eight turnovers. The Kings (3-0) next play Adelaide 36ers at Afterpay Arena on Sunday, October 11 at 3pm AEDT.

Brisbane Bullets

• Jaylin Williams ($277,000) top-scored with 19 points and eight rebounds on 7-from-17, including 4-from-11 from three.
• Arnas Velicka ($277,000) added 15 points and five assists on 5-from-12, including 4-from-10 from three.
• Nate Hinton ($277,000) had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals on 4-from-12.
• Max Mackinnon ($200,000) scored nine on 3-from-11, including 1-from-7 from three.
• Tyrell Harrison ($336,100) blocked three shots and scored six on 3-from-4 with five rebounds.
• Jacob Holt ($176,300) scored four off the bench on 2-from-4 in 14:00.
• Lat Mayen ($69,000) had six rebounds and three points off the bench in 15:03, and was the only Brisbane player to finish with a positive plus-minus, plus-one.
• Brisbane shot 28-from-75 from the field, 13-from-47 from three and 9-from-13 at the line, with 45 rebounds, 16 assists and 14 turnovers. The Bullets (2-1) play their second game of Round 3 against Tasmania JackJumpers at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday, October 3 at 5:30pm AEST.

Ignite Cup Points Rules

• 3 points for winning the game
• 1 point for winning each quarter
• 0.5 points each for a tied quarter
• Most a winner can get: 7 (4 quarters + the win).
• Most a loser can get: 3 (by winning three quarters)
• ‍Overtime: no extra points apart from the 3 for the win