Pinder explodes as Wildcats beat Kings

Winning without Bryce Cotton was always going to take a huge effort from the Perth Wildcats and that's exactly what they got inspired by Keanu Pinder to beat the Sydney Kings 87-84 at RAC Arena.

Pinder opened the NBL season with 29 points and rediscovered that form on Friday night to end up with 34 on 11/18 shooting from the field and 11/13 at the line to go with four rebounds and four steals.

He lifted the Wildcats to beat the Kings on the back of collecting 27 offensive rebounds for 26 second chance points to overcome shooting 36 per cent from the field and 5/33 from downtown.

Pinder received impressive support from Next Star Izan Almansa with 14 points and six rebounds with Elijah Pepper adding 11 points, and Kristian Doolittle nine to go with 14 rebounds.

Wildcats coach John Rillie knows it wasn’t a pretty performance, but heart trumped everything in the end.

"It was a great performance from the standpoint we just stuck with it as far as not playing beautiful basketball, and it wasn’t pretty at moments," he said.

"But we stuck together as a group and weathered storms, they got some momentum at different periods, but we just stuck with it and when you show fight and consistency like that, you give yourself a chance."

That was despite the combined 39 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists and six blocks from Xavier Cooks (22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, three blocks) and Cam Oliver (17 points, nine boards, three blocks) for the Kings.

Kouat Noi chimed in with an impressive cameo with 15 points including three late triples to give his team a sniff.

Being outrebounded by 21 for the game, having just seven offensive rebounds and attempting just 18 foul shots while the Wildcats made 24 were all unacceptable for Kings coach Brian Goorjian.

"Anything that involved energy, they didn’t beat us on, they dominated us," he said.

"It's how you lose at this stage, not losing and you can progress and move forward but still lose.

"You can win and not play well, we lost in a very poor way."

While the Kings were without former MVP Jaylen Adams, the 'Cats were up against it without their starting backcourt of Cotton and Tai Webster, but were a motivated outfit led by Pinder from the outset.

Perth only shot 36 per cent from the field with 2/16 from deep in the opening half, but they did have 15 offensive rebounds for 14 second chance points.

Up the other end, the Kings shot 54 per cent as a team despite just the three offensive rebounds to be leading 44-41 at the break.

Pinder was feeling it, though, and scored 11 points quickly to start the second half helping Perth to lead by as much as nine in the third term.

A Pinder three ball pushed the 'Cats out to a seven-point edge again in the fourth but the Kings wouldn’t go away and it was eight quick Noi points including two three balls that restored them to the lead.

Doolittle's three-point play that put Perth back on top in the last minute and from there they won by three to steady their season at 3-4.

It was the Keanu Pinder-Xavier Cooks show at either end with the Wildcats star scoring six of his team's first 10 points, and the Kings captain providing six of the first seven for his side.

Next Star Izan Almansa then gave Perth an immediate boost with six quick points to help the 'Cats to a 16-9 lead, but Sydney answered with a 9-0 run and by the end of one, scores were all square at 21-21.

Almansa even hit a three to give Perth a three-point lead early in the second stanza, but then the Kings threatened to take charge with Cam Oliver warming up to team up with Cooks as the Kings opened up a nine-point edge.

However, the Wildcats responded well and it was 481-game captain Jesse Wagstaff standing tall to bring the half-time deficit to three with Perth having 15 offensive rebounds to help overcome the 54 per cent shooting of the Kings.

Perth then fired out of the blocks led by Pinder to open the second half. He scored 11 points in a matter of minutes including a couple of spectacular finishes at the rim helping his team to lead by as much as nine before going out for a rest.

Just as the Wildcats had all the momentum, Oliver and Shaun Bruce hit threes for Sydney and by three quarter-time the home team was just leading 65-60.

Things remained a tight affair through the majority of the fourth quarter and Pinder knocked down a long ball to push the Wildcats out to a seven-point edge, but Kouat Noi immediately responded for Sydney to keep things close.

Noi then scored five quick points and suddenly Sydney were in front, but Kristian Doolittle answered with a strong and-one play which ultimately was the pivotal play to deliver Perth the win.

The Kings head straight back home to play host to the decimated New Zealand Breakers on Sunday while the Wildcats are in action back at RAC Arena next Friday against the Illawarra Hawks.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

PERTH WILDCATS 87 (Pinder 34, Almansa 14, Pepper 11)

SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Cooks 22, Oliver 17, Noi 15)

BOX SCORE