I think you can chalk up most of that scoreline to a woeful first quarter where the Kings were absolutely shellshocked. However, when they finally adapted they were very competitive, winning the second quarter and only losing the last two quarters by a combined margin of eight.
I think we need to also bare in mind that even by NBL standards the Sydney Kings are weak inside, as they've placed a massive bet on the backs of a promising rookie and their little diversity pet project Amritpal Singh, who was woeful and should really go back to playing in a lesser league. Another NBL team may have been more competitive again than the Kings were.
But overall, I think the Kings can hold their heads high about this game. They were outmatched in size, length, athleticism, and they were also playing with rules and court dimensions they weren't used to, and they still managed to stick around and not get absolutely embarrassed. They showed a lot of character and I think they've done the case for bringing NBL teams to the USA to play NBA teams a lot of good. I mean, if you wanted a preseason game where you can run your bench, get everyone minutes and get some confidence while also have just a little bit of a test, why not invite the NBL back?
All in all, pretty happy. Let's hope Melbourne United doesn't take a quarter to acclimatize on Saturday.