The Sydney Kings' play-off hopes have been dealt a near fatal blow and their star import Josh Childress is injured after a nightmare clash with the Adelaide 36ers.
Despite a promising win against the top-placed New Zealand Breakers on Friday night, the Kings were annihilated 105-86 in their fourth consecutive loss in front of their home crowd.
The walloping all but extinguished their chances of reaching the finals. The Kings would need to win their next six matches, and rely on other teams losing, to claim a spot in the top four.
In another major blow to the team, their star player and top scorer was sidelined with an injury late in the third and did not return to the court. There was some confusion about the nature of the injury suffered by Childress. The MVP favourite said after the match it was his shoulder that was hurt, while at a press conference his coach Damian Cotter said he had injured his pectoral muscle.
Childress was expected to have scans on Tuesday. The 31-year-old American, who appeared to be in pain and had his arm in a sling after the game, was only just returning to fitness after a hamstring injury kept him out of uniform for three matches.
The loss was made more distinguishable by the fact the Kings had beaten the league's favourites the New Zealand Breakers only two nights earlier in Auckland. The Kings had also had the wood over the Sixers, beating them by seven points in their past two clashes.
Co-captain Tom Garlepp described the loss on the heels of such an encouraging win as "a bit inexplicable".
"We felt pretty positive, we'd just knocked off the top team by a good margin," Garlepp said. "It's an in-form team, any slide in enthusiasm or intensity you will pay for it and we did."
While the Kings fought gallantly in the opening quarter, they never managed to seize the lead after the visitors put the first two on the board. It was in the second half that the situation became particularly ugly. The Sixers, who had four Boomers in their team, opened up a 33-point lead at one point in the fourth quarter.
"Having four Boomers helps but we don't make excuses," Garlepp said. "There are ways to win. We've beaten them twice this year and they had four international players then, so we should have been better."
The Kings did not just trail on the score board. They hit only 35 per cent of three-pointers compared with the visiting team's 62 per cent and grabbed only 25 rebounds while the Sixers nabbed 40.
Coach Damian Cotter said his team had struggled to maintain a consistent performance throughout the season and that was partly due to inexperience.
"I just don't think we came ready to play and certainly you wouldn't know it was the same team from Friday night," Cotter said. "It was disappointing to lose by that much but it could have easily turned into a cricket score and the guys kept over the gap."
Cotter could provide little detail about Childress' injury, saying he was in pain but there was no suggestion of how long a recovery might take.
Last-minute import Nick Horvath had also ended his stint with the team after just three games. Called up to replace the injured Angus Brandt, the big man stayed in New Zealand after Friday's match to return to his day-job of teaching physics.
Things are not about to get any easier for the Kings. They will next face the third-placed Perth Wildcats, who have beaten them twice in three previous meetings this season. Another clash with the Sixers will follow, then they will be up against league-leaders the Cairns Taipans.
"We're not going to cry into our milk and say woe is us," Cotter said. "We're going to turn up and put in the best game plan, the best performance we can. What happens happens. All we can do right now is keep a positive mindset and worry about progression no matter who we play against."
