Walton Jr Hits Top Form in Sydney Win

Derrick Walton Jr was back to his irresistible best on Sunday night, finishing with a 16-point, 11 assist double-double in Sydney’s victory over Adelaide.

Walton was one of three Kings players to hit double-digits in the scoring column as they cruised to a 19-point win – he joined key tall pair Xavier Cooks and Tim Soares in putting the 36ers defence to the sword in what eventuated as an easy win for the side.

Since arriving the league at the beginning of this season Walton has proven himself to be one of the top floor generals in the competition, however a dip in form in recent weeks has coincided in a run in which the Kings have dropped two of their last five games – and needed a buzzer-beating three from Shaun Bruce in the win over bottom-placed Illawarra.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Walton Jr is ??? assist man today! Prime delivery for Soares from 3??<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live and free on 10 Peach and 10play | live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/ci9RlQo76N">pic.twitter.com/ci9RlQo76N</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1599263055988158467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sydney coach Chase Buford believes Walton Jr is back to his best after a handful of streaky performances.

“I think Derrick will be the first to tell you for a few games now he’s maybe been trying to search for the right balance, and tonight he really found it,” Buford said post-game.

“I hate the term ‘take what the defence gives you’, because as a defence we want to give people bad shots … but I think Derrick did a good job of reading what was available and taking advantage of the good options.

Centre Soares added when Walton Jr is on form, the whole team lifts.

“He’s a true point guard … floor general, natural feel,” Soares said.

“He’s really good at getting to his spot and helping everybody else. He takes a huge load off me, as long as I’m ready to go he always gets the ball where it needs to go.”

Sydney’s next challenge comes in the form of the second-placed New Zealand Breakers, with the pair set to lock horns on Thursday night.

The Breakers and Kings have given themselves some breathing room at the top of the table, but whoever loses this potential make-or-break contest runs the risk of being pulled back into the congestion within the top six top half of the ladder.

After defeating New Zealand by just four points in their last meeting, Buford says he’s aware of the threat the Breakers can pose.

“They’re a really good team.” Buford said of New Zealand. “They’re going to come out and physically try and impose themselves so we have to handle that – but I’m excited for the game.

“In a lot of ways we disappointed ourselves closing the game out [last time against the Breakers]. Hopefully we’ll learn. We’ve had a couple of not so good close-out performances after that, [so] hopefully we’ll continue to stack enough learning opportunities and film to continue to grow.”

Xavier Cooks once again provided the highlight of the contest against the 36ers, throwing down a massive dunk over Adelaide’s Kai Sotto – a dunk that rivals the quality of his slam over Melbourne United’s Isaac Humphries earlier in the season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cooks pulled that ALL THE WAY BACK ? one of the dunks of the season!<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live and free on 10 Peach and 10 play | live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/AZd0FEgsmw">pic.twitter.com/AZd0FEgsmw</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1599258508372762624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cooks is one of a number of early-season contenders for league MVP honours – and Buford has left no doubt as to his stance on whether Cooks deserves the award.

“I think he’s (Cooks) by far the best player in the league. Easy.”