Kings down Bullets in NBL - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Kings down Bullets in NBL

By Laine Clark 15/02/2003 10:07:45 PM Comments (0)

There were smiles all around when NBL legend Robert Sibley made a surprise comeback but former teammate Shane Heal had the last laugh, guiding the Sydney Kings to a 111-84 win over the Brisbane Bullets.

Sibley, 37, hung up his boots in 1997 after more than 300 NBL games and three championships but dusted them off this week to answer an SOS from Brisbane coach Joey Wright following the loss of Simon Kerle (ankle) and import Kevin Freeman (personal reasons) for the season.

Former Brisbane teammates Sibley and Heal smiled and embraced on court when they caught each other's eye in pre-match practice and there were further good natured laughs when Sibley finally took the court.

Five minutes into the third quarter Sibley hit the court, prompting the venue announcer to say it was the first game the Bullets legend had played "in 2,000 years".

While Sibley took the jibe well in his 367th NBL game, smiles were rare in the Bullets camp thanks to the stunning shooting clinic put on by Heal.

After hitting just one field goal in Sydney's come from behind 95-90 win in Melbourne last Wednesday night, Heal regained his hot hand to burn Brisbane with a record-equalling shooting display.

Heal equalled the club record for three pointers made - 12 - to bag 46 points including 12-20 shooting from behind the three point arc.

Heal hit his 12th three-pointer in the fourth quarter and had ample time to break the club record but was pulled by Kings coach Brian Goorjian with less than three minutes left on the clock - prompting boos from the Sydney faithful disappointed to miss the feat.

It was easily a season-high scoring performance by Heal whose previous best was a 34-point effort dropped on the Bullets the last time the two teams met this season.

Besides Heal, Chris Williams (18 points, 18 rebounds) and fellow import Kavossy Franklin (17 points, six rebounds) impressed for Sydney.

For Brisbane, centre Wade Helliwell (26 points, 11 rebounds) and guard Damien Ryan (20 points) stood tall.

The impressive victory kept Sydney on top of the NBL ladder with a 20-8 record while Brisbane (6-21) is en route to collecting its first wooden spoon.

Heal came out with all guns blazing, hitting 4-4 from behind the three-point arc to grab 17 points as Sydney led 36-26 at the opening break despite Helliwell's 11-point effort.

By halftime, Heal had 29 points against his name from 8-11 three point shooting and the Kings reigned 63-46.

It was more of the same in the third as Heal's firepower combined with Franklin (eight points for the term) and Williams (seven) to blow the deficit out to 94-64 at the last break and it was all over.

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