League MVP Xavier Cooks suffered a serious ankle injury and Sydney coach Chase Buford was tossed out of the Cairns Convention Centre as the Kings' suffered an emphatic, carnage-filled 93-82 loss to the Taipans in Game 2 of the semi-final series, which is now locked at 1-1.
Cooks, the league MVP and the match-winner in Game 1, rolled his left ankle when he landed awkwardly on DJ Hogg's foot midway through the second quarter on Friday before hobbling off with his evening - and perhaps his season - over.
Then in the closing minutes, Kouat Noi suffered a bloody nose in a collision with Hogg but was called for a flop.
The hotly disputed call led to an incensed Buford earning back-to-back, disqualifying technical fouls after running onto the court and launching a series of expletives at the officials.
The match result had been already sealed though, with Hogg (25 points) and captain Tahjere McCall (20) starring for the Snakes, who were without Shannon Scott (hamstring) and Keanu Pinder (fractured eye socket).
"They're gritty, they're tough, they know what's on the line," said Taipans coach Adam Forde, full of pride for his players.
"The boys are confident of winning (Game 3). We've won there (Sydney) before ... we should have won Game 1.
"That's our mindset."
Imports Derrick Walton Jr (22 points) and Justin Simon (19) stood out for the Kings, who uncharacteristically received little from starters Cooks (five), out-of-sorts Dejan Vasiljevic (four) and Tim Soares (zero).
Game 1 surprise packet Jonah Antonio started for the Tapians in Scott's absence but it was another unsung reserve, Lat Mayen, who got under Sydney's guard with 10 first-quarter points in five minutes and some sterling defence on Cooks.
Up 27-19 at quarter-time, McCall piloted a 12-3 start to the second term as Cairns motored ahead by 17.
Simon helped Sydney close to within 10 in the third quarter before things turned sour for the reigning champions as Cooks limped off during an 11-0 Taipans scoring spree.
After blowing the margin out to 21 points midway through the third, Cairns' cushion was sliced to eight points on a 9-1 burst by the Kings to start the fourth.
But ongoing turnovers, missed free throws and back-to-back Hogg triples ensured the series will extend to a Game 3 decider in Sydney on Sunday.
"Credit to Cairns, they kicked our ass," Buford said.
"From the opening tip they played with more juice, they played with a desperation like their season was on the line and we didn't match them.
"That's super disappointing."
