Wins for Blaze, Taipans

The Gold Coast Blaze have overcome a sluggish start to blow the Sydney Kings off the court with an 84-72 win in the NBL at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Friday night.

The Blaze gave up a six-point half-time deficit before waking from their slumber after the main break, with Adam Gibson (17 points) the catalyst with 15 points and three assists in the third quarter alone.

Mark Worthington (12 points, 7 rebounds) was another star for the visitors while guard Adris Deleon finished with a game-high 29 points.

Despite dominating the first half, the Kings ran out of steam in the second stanza, with the Blaze putting the shackles on the likes of Julian Khazzouh and Jerai Grant.

Anatoly Bose (21 points) was Sydney's best but simply didn't have enough support with Khazzouh (16 points) and Ben Madgen (14 points) the only ones to provide any support.

In the night's other match, the Cairns Taipans kept their finals hopes alive with a vital 76-67 win over the second-placed Pert Wildcats at the Cairns Convention Centre.

Desperate to stay in touch with the top four, the Taipans started with plenty of purpose and took it to the Wildcats in the first half but only had a narrow 29-16 lead at the main break.

But a sensational third term broke the game wide open as Jamar Wilson and Alex Loughton took control to give the home side a 16-point buffer at three-quarter time.

Wilson had a brilliant game, leading all scorers with 24 points, while Loughton chipped in with 11.

Kevin Lisch was Perth's best with 16 points.