Live by three, die by three Phoenix flames out against King Kendric

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Live by the three, die by the three.

South East Melbourne hit what Kings head coach Brian Goorjian called a “haymaker” in the first quarter, and the Phoenix were on a heater until they weren’t.

The Phoenix hit six straight threes to lead 27-6 after just 3:50 gone but ended up losing 110-99 in Round 8 of NBL27 at Afterpay Arena in Sydney on Sunday, November 7, 2026.

The road team went 8-for-15 from three in the first quarter but missed their next 12 to finish 17-for-45. Sydney went on a 38-13 run during that stretch to lead 75-59 at the 4:16 mark of the third.

“The first part of the question was very early,” Phoenix head coach Josh King responded when asked what happened after the Phoenix went up by 21.

“It was very early. It was a great start. Then we stopped focusing on getting stops. Went to the bench. The bench wasn't great for us tonight, clearly.

"They hit some tough shots early. We talked about protecting the paint, and then once they started getting into a rhythm, they were more aggressive on both sides of the ball. The floodgates kind of opened up.

"It was a three-point game at halftime, which, again, doesn't matter how it gets there. It's a three-point game.

"Then we didn't have a good start to the third quarter. Clawed our way back in. Four-point game, I think, with about five minutes left to go, and then we didn't give ourselves a real chance down the stretch.

"I think there was a call there on Dash (Daniels) that was a big call that kind of gave them back the momentum. I thought we had momentum, and then there was a big call and they got the momentum back and then won the game."

Sydney Kings superstar Kendric Davis ($436,000) was elite in his 33:47 minutes, pouring in 28 points with nine assists, three rebounds, and two steals, while Torrey Craig ($290,400) continued his rock-solid start to the season with 23 points, five boards, three blocks, and a steal.

Goorjian credited the Kings' bench with clawing the defending champions back into the ballgame.

“The bench,” Goorjian said.

“We talked about this in playing Phoenix. They're a very good basketball team, and they're deep, but the way they play, there's going to be runs.

"If you're 20 up, it means nothing. If you're 20 down, the game's going to [change]. Bogues had the scout and talked about that a lot.

"I just felt like there was plenty of time. It's not 25 down in the middle of the third.

"Over the course of the last month, we've been getting lots of contribution from the bench. Tonight, it was concerning losing [Jayden Stone] because he was instrumental in those two wins, but we get Delly back.

"From the time he was injected into the game, when you look at our bench, it's different than last year. It's a lot of young guys that have never played in the NBL before, never experienced this.

"What he brings, and everybody brings something to this, is really important to them. It settled us down. It got Kendrick back in the game.

"As the championship last year, if we're going to go to where we need to go, he's instrumental."

It was the first game since October 11 for Matthew Dellavedova ($221,300). He played 17 minutes off the bench and had seven points and four assists. Rookie Will Johnston ($69,000) continues to grow; he had 13 points on 5-for-9 from the field in 17:07 minutes.

"It felt good to be back out there. It was fun,” Dellavedova said.

"It's never fun just being in rehab and stuff like that.

"But I had a good week of training under my belt with Will and Spurge and Robo as a core group.

"We got a pretty good rhythm together, and they all had big games tonight."

NBA champion Dellavedova said the Kings didn’t panic when they got down 21-2 minutes after the tip.

"Just try not to think about the scoreboard,” he said.

"Think about what your job is, play by play.

"That's something Goorj has spoken about a lot. Don't play the scoreboard, just play the game and try to play each play on its merit.

"You're not going to get it all back in five minutes.

"We kind of got it back by halftime, which doesn't usually happen.

"The trap you can fall into is trying to get it all back in one shot, and it's just not going to happen.

"You've got to try to wear them down and work your way back into the game, and get a couple of easy buckets to settle in."

Phoenix import guard played just 10:40 off the bench, had two points, two rebounds, an assist and was -27.

"Look, I think everybody knows everybody is replaceable, including myself,” King said of Mays.

"This is professional sports. It's a performance-based business that we're in at the end of the day.

"Again, he's a capable basketball player, and we just need him to play better.

"I understand Skyler's the easy pick-on guy, but Jord's not playing well right now.

"I thought he had a good week of practice. Doesn't guarantee that you're going to play well in the game, but it gives you a chance.

"We need to get him going. We need to get our bench going.

"Glove is a really good player. I wouldn't say he had his best game today, but he's a guy that we lean on a lot.

"We need guys coming off the bench to perform better for us.

"I also thought, to piggyback off all that, Deshawn Schwarz getting in foul trouble actually really hurt us today, especially in that second quarter."

But more concerning for King is Phoenix’s ability to make a shot.

51.6% of their field-goal attempts are 2s (448) and 48.4% are 3s (420), which is 38.2 three-point attempts a game.

NBL27 Shooting Splits

- Overall FG: 377 of 868, 43.4%

- 2pt FG: 244 of 448, 54.5%

- 3pt FG: 133 of 420, 31.7%

It was the fourth time this season they've taken more 3s than 2s. The other three were 45 to 32 at Perth (October 2), 41 to 35 v Illawarra (October 4) and 37 to 36 at Brisbane (October 15).

Watch

NBL27

Sydney Kings vs South East Melbourne Phoenix | Round 8 Highlights

Watch the highlights as the Sydney Kings take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Round 8 of NBL27 on November 8, 2026.

What you need to know

• Sydney Kings beat the South East Melbourne Phoenix 110-99 at Afterpay Arena on Sunday, November 8, 2026 in Round 8 of NBL27, coming back from 21 points down for their third win in a row. Sydney are 8-3 and top of the ladder, and the Phoenix are 4-7 and eighth.
• The Phoenix won the first quarter 38-28 behind a 19-0 run that made it 21-2, and led 27-6. Sydney won the second 26-13 and the third 29-19, led for good from 54-51 at half-time, and after the Phoenix cut it to 93-92 with 5:08 left, a 10-0 Sydney run made it 103-92.
• Kendric Davis ($436,000) top-scored for Sydney with 28 points and nine assists on 11-from-23, 14 of them in the third quarter, and Nathan Sobey ($379,600) scored a game-high 33 on 9-from-17, including 6-from-11 from three.
• The Phoenix made 17 threes to Sydney's nine, a 24-point edge from deep, but Sydney made 32-from-54 inside the arc to the Phoenix's 17-from-41, a 30-point edge on twos.
• Sydney also had 28 assists to 19 and eight turnovers to 12, and went 19-from-23 at the line to the Phoenix's 14-from-17.

Milestones & Moments

• Sydney came back from 21 points down (27-6 in the first quarter), the biggest deficit overcome by a winning team in the 58 games of NBL27 so far. No other winner this season has come back from more than 17.
• Angus Glover ($191,700) played his 200th NBL game.
• Kendric Davis ($436,000) played his 80th NBL game and moved to 1,990 career NBL points, 10 short of 2,000.
• Nathan Sobey ($379,600) scored 33, his NBL27 high and the most by a Phoenix player this season. He played his 341st NBL game, nine short of 350, and moved to 5,448 career NBL points.
• Xavier Cooks ($308,000) had 14 rebounds, his NBL27 high, and moved to 1,363 career NBL rebounds and 521 career NBL assists.
• Yannis Morin ($277,000) had 12 rebounds, his NBL27 high.
• Matthew Dellavedova ($221,300) played his first game since October 11, his 134th in the NBL, 16 short of 150.
• Tanner Krebs ($150,300) played his 186th NBL game and moved to 453 career NBL rebounds, 47 short of 500.

Sydney Kings

• Kendric Davis ($436,000) top-scored with 28 points, nine assists and two steals on 11-from-23, including 1-from-5 from three and 5-from-6 at the line, with 14 of his points in the third quarter.
• Torrey Craig ($290,400) had 23 points, five rebounds and three blocks on 7-from-13, including 3-from-6 from three, and 6-from-7 at the line, with five points in the second-quarter 10-0 run that turned 37-46 into 47-46.
• Xavier Cooks ($308,000) had 15 points, 14 rebounds (six offensive), four assists and two blocks on 6-from-7, and 3-from-3 at the line.
• Makuach Maluach ($134,500) had 14 points, three steals and two blocks on 6-from-12, including 1-from-4 from three, with two baskets in the fourth-quarter 10-0 run.
• Will Johnston ($69,000) scored 13 off the bench on 5-from-9, including 2-from-4 from three, with 12 in the first half, and his three with 12 seconds left in the second quarter put Sydney ahead for good. He finished plus-24, the joint-best mark in the game.
• Matthew Dellavedova ($221,300) had seven points and four assists on 2-from-4 and 2-from-2 at the line in 17 minutes off the bench, and finished plus-24, level with Johnston for the best mark in the game.
• Jason Spurgin ($69,000) had five points on 2-from-2 in 13 minutes, his three with 3:39 left in the second quarter giving Sydney their first lead at 47-46.
• Sydney shot 41-from-82 from the field, 9-from-28 from three and 19-from-23 at the line, with 49 rebounds, 28 assists and eight turnovers.

South East Melbourne Phoenix

• Nathan Sobey ($379,600) top-scored with 33 points, six rebounds and four assists on 9-from-17, including 6-from-11 from three and 9-from-10 at the line, with 15 in the first quarter and 16 in the fourth.
• Tanner Krebs ($150,300) had 16 points and four rebounds on 6-from-13, including 4-from-11 from three, with eight points in the last 90 seconds of the third quarter.
• Yannis Morin ($277,000) had 12 points, 12 rebounds (four offensive), four assists and three blocks on 5-from-12, and finished plus-11, the best mark on his team.
• Angus Glover ($191,700) scored 11 off the bench in his 200th game on 4-from-11, including 1-from-6 from three, and 2-from-2 at the line.
• Dash Daniels ($115,000) had 10 points and six rebounds on 4-from-12, including 2-from-4 from three, with eight of his points in the first quarter and a game-high five turnovers.
• D'Shawn Schwartz ($277,000) had 10 points and five rebounds on 4-from-8, including 2-from-5 from three, and fouled out with 3:38 left.
• Skylar Mays ($277,000) had two points on 1-from-7 in 11 minutes off the bench, and finished minus-27, the worst mark in the game.
• The Phoenix shot 34-from-86 from the field, 17-from-45 from three and 14-from-17 at the line, with 46 rebounds, 19 assists and 12 turnovers.