Taipans extend on the road winning streak

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The Cairns Taipans have beaten reigning NBL champions the Sydney Kings 83-78 in Sydney.

The win follows a disappointing at home loss to the Perth Wildcats but extends the Snakes on the road winning streak to three games.

The Kings hadn’t lost since the last regular season game of NBL22 on the way to winning the championship and were three wins from three this season.

The Sydney side held an early lead into the second quarter, but the Taipans drew level thanks to a triple from Bul Kuol and goals from Majok Deng and DJ Hogg.

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The Kings led by a point at half time, but Cairns pushed ahead to lead 61-29 at the three-quarter break.

Scott and Hogg stretched the lead, and a contested triple from Deng put the result beyond doubt.

The Taipans have now won all three of their road matches.

Keanu Pinder was superb again for the Taipans,  finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Shannon Scott stepped up in the absence of the injured Tahjere McCall, with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

DJ Hogg made 15 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Head coach, Adam Forde, said the Taipans had come back well from the at-home loss to Perth Wildcats.

"People are going to react after the Perth game as they naturally did, and people are going to react after this game.

“We're not trying to go by anyone's beat of the drum other than our own. We just stayed solid.

“There are things we need to work on and things we're working towards, and we're preparing to be that Cairns Taipans team we want to be in January, February.

“What impressed me tonight was that they just enjoyed the moment for what it was, but they also understood there's a long road to go."

The Cairns Taipans take on Melbourne United on Thursday at the John Cain arena.