If you look at the history of teams from Australia’s National Basketball League, this game shouldn’t have been as lopsided as it was. Last season, the three NBA vs. NBL games all ended with pretty respectable scores: the Jazz beat the Sydney Kings by 25, the Phoenix Suns beat the Brisbane Bullets by 21, and Melbourne United scared Oklahoma City badly with just a one-point loss.
So it was discouraging to see Perth, one of the NBL’s best all-time clubs, put up so little of a fight against the Jazz. They have excuses: team captain Damian Martin was out due to a calf strain, and Angus Brandt could have given the Wildcats more size to deal with the Jazz’s big men.