Brisbane dethrone Kings to start 2-0

THE Brisbane Bullets ruined the Sydney Kings’ seasonopener and capped a perfect start to their own NBL campaign with a tense 77-73 win last night at Qudos Bank Arena.

Brisbane led at every change, surviving Sydney’s fourth-quarter fightback to secure their second victory of the weekend.

Daniel Kickert led the Bullets with 17 points and Shaun Bruce and Tom Jervis added 12 apiece, while American forward Torrey Craig was a standout with nine points and 17 rebounds.

Guard Kevin Lisch topped the Kings’ scoring with 20 points and forward Jeromie Hill had 14.

The Bullets beat titleholders Perth on Thursday night and are back with a bang in the NBL after an eight-year absence.

The Kings started strongly and built an early lead, but that soon changed as they endured long periods of poor offensive execution throughout the first half.

Kickert poured in nine of his team’s first 11 points and the visitors were up 17-14 at quarter-time.

The Bullets stretched the margin to eight before the Kings responded to be down 28-24 five minutes from halftime.

Sydney got to within a point but Brisbane hit back to take a 38-34 half-time lead and were up by as many as 11 in the third period.

Despite grabbing 21 rebounds to Brisbane’s 36, the Kings found a way to stay in the contest and were down by six with a quarter to play.

Lisch rose to the occasion, splashing a pair of threepoint bombs to bring his side level.

But the Bullets held their nerve down the stretch to claim a deserved win.

Brisbane’s next game is at home against the Adelaide 36ers next Sunday.