Vasiljevic helps take Sydney Kings to cusp of first championship

HOBART: Sydney is one win away from its first NBL championship since 2005 after toppling Tasmania 9086 in a nailbiting game two of the grand final series.

The Kings, without competition MVP Jaylen Adams who suffered a hamstring injury in game one, came back from a 10point firstquarter deficit to seal it in the dying stages.

Clinging to a onepoint lead, Kings’ sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic (20 points) stepped up with a threepointer with 10 seconds left on the clock to seal yesterday’s win in Hobart.

JackJumpers’ American guard Josh Adams, who had a gamehigh 36 points, had kept his side within touching distance with two threepointers under high pressure in the final 80sec.

Sydney captain Xavier Cooks was inspirational in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of his 20 points for the game to go with an equal gamehigh 10 rebounds.

‘‘The coaches trusted me. [Xavier] told me before the game, you’re the one who has to step up,’’ Vasiljevic said.

‘‘I don’t shy away from moments like this. We’re trying to close it out in game three.’’

Import centre Jarell Martin also picked up 20 points for Sydney, shooting at an impressive 80% from the field.

The Kings have a 20 advantage ahead of Wednesday night’s third game in Sydney in the bestoffive series.

They will be sweating on the fitness of Adams, who did not travel to Hobart and will undergo further assessment.

No team has won an NBL championship after dropping the first two games of the grand final series.

‘‘We can’t fault anything. They made their shots and we didn’t.

‘‘It is what it is. I’m not upset by any means, or disheartened,’’ JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.

In front of a capacity home crowd of 4865 at MyState Bank Arena, Adams started on fire for Tasmania, shrugging off a glancing blow to his arm to post 10 points for the opening quarter.

Tasmania, in its maiden NBL season, made the most of 10 trips to the free throw line, picking up eight points, to take a 2717 lead at the first break.

Vasiljevic came to life for Sydney as it surged back into the contest with a run of 14 points early in the second before Tasmania’s Jarrad Weeks hit eight points for a 4844 lead at halftime.

Tasmania took a 7068 lead into the final quarter.

Sydney coach Chase Buford lost his temper over a call in the third quarter, appearing to put a dint in courtside signage with a kick.

‘‘It was a heck of a ball game. Down the stretch they hit some unbelievably tough shots,’’ Buford said.

‘‘They were up for the challenge. Josh Adams was just a monster.’’

The Kings last won the championship in 2005 as part of their threepeat and were runnersup in 2006, 2008 and 2020.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points and made the goahead basket with 44.3sec left as the Milwaukee Bucks withstood a frantic flurry of shots in the final seconds to beat the Boston Celtics 103101 in game 3 of the NBA eastern conference semifinals.

The defending champions Bucks lead the bestofseven series 21.

Boston trailed 103100 when Marcus Smart was fouled by Jrue Holiday just before attempting a potential tying threepointer with 4.6sec remaining.

Smart made the first free throw, then missed the second intentionally — flinging it at the rim.

That is when things got wild. Smart got the rebound but missed his putback attempt.

Boston’s Robert Williams got that rebound but also missed and Al Horford was just to the right of the basket when he converted his putback opportunity, but the shot came just after the buzzer sounded.

Replays confirmed Horford did not beat the clock.

Stephen Curry scored 30 points, Klay Thompson had 21 and nine rebounds and the Golden State Warriors shut down Ja Morant’s supporting cast to embarrass the Memphis Grizzlies 142112 for a 21 lead in the western conference semifinals.

Morant’s three just before the halftime buzzer got the Grizzlies to 6457 at the break and gave him 17 of his 34 points after a 47point performance in game 2.

But Morant could not do it alone for Memphis, and he was done after rubbing his tender right knee and limping off with 6min 19sec to play before heading to the locker room. — AAP/AP