Look, the Sydney Kings proved what everyone already knew on Saturday night: they're the team to beat. They swept Perth off the court at RAC Arena in Perth, running out 89-75 winners to advance to their ninth NBL grand final. When a side finishes the season on a 12-game winning streak and wins the minor premiership, you'd expect them to handle their business in the playoffs, and mate, they did exactly that.
This wasn't pretty basketball, but it was professional. The Kings tightened their defensive screws after half-time, with Perth hitting just 34.2% from the field for the night and managing only 31.7% from three. The game remained within reach entering the final term before the Kings exploded for 29 fourth-quarter points, holding Perth to just 16 to break the contest open. When you're holding an opponent to 16 points in a quarter, you're doing something right.
Kendric Davis led all scorers with 27 points and five assists, while Makuach Maluach added 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds, providing a decisive scoring punch inside. Davis is one of those players who makes the game look simple when it matters. MVP runner-up Kendric Davis was the ultimate professional bucket-getter, hitting a clutch three deep into the fourth to keep Perth from making a comeback.
Fair dinkum, Perth deserved better than this result deserves. They were already without import Dylan Windler, who picked up a left foot injury in the dying moments of Game 1, and things got worse when Ben Henshall was hampered by cramps in the second half. The Wildcats' captain still managed 20 points including five three-pointers, but Doolittle (15 points, nine rebounds) and Henshall (20 points) led the resistance, but turnovers and late-game execution proved costly as Sydney closed strongly to claim the win.
Here's the thing about a best-of-three series: it's brutal. All the regular season form counts for precious little when the margin for error shrinks to nothing. Sydney won all three matches against Perth in NBL26 by an average margin of 23 points and no less than 18. You can't beat a side that dominates you like that three times in a row and then hope for different results in the finals, even if it's just a two-game series.
At the end of the day, the Sydney Kings are just three wins away from their sixth NBL title after a professional Game 2 win against the Perth Wildcats in Perth on Saturday, March 14, 2026. The Kings now await the winner of the Adelaide 36ers versus South East Melbourne Phoenix series. Seven-time NBL Coach of the Year Brian Goorjian called a time out down the stretch and the Kings closed it out. That's the kind of composure under pressure that wins championships.