Perth Wildcats cop NBL thrashing from Sydney Kings as Dylan Windler suffers ankle injuryCraig O’DonoghueThe West AustralianSun, 19 October 2025 4:29PMCommentsCommentsEmail Craig O’Donoghue
Perth’s decision to sack import Mason Jones during the week has come back to haunt them after American Dylan Windler suffered an ankle injury and a suddenly-inexperienced team was thrashed by Sydney.
The Wildcats lost 94-72 to the Kings in Sydney, again shot poorly, had multiple players in foul trouble and now have concerns over Windler ahead of Wednesday’s game against Cairns.
Windler injured his ankle during the first quarter after stepping on teammate Kristian Doolittle’s foot and didn’t return to the game.
The American was clearly frustrated as he left the court, given he has consistently battled injuries during his career. He dedicated plenty of time during the pre-season to making himself more durable so he could have a big impact this year.
“As far as ankles are concerned, it’s not too bad but I honestly don’t know. With ankles, you can go to sleep, wake up and it’s really ballooned up. But it looks somewhat manageable right now,” Perth coach John Rillie said.
Jones flew home on Friday night as the Wildcats scoured the globe hoping to find a replacement. There is no timeline on when a new player will be signed. Rillie had to turn to his youngsters after Windler went off, given Doolittle was the only import left.
Jaron Rillie seized his opportunity after scoring 16 points from 25 minutes on the court. Jo Lual-Acuil Jr top scored with 17 points before fouling out late and Doolittle produced a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
But Sydney’s edge in experience was obvious. Kendric Davis top scored for the Kings with 25 points, while Xavier Cooks (16) and Matthew Dellavedova (15) were also prominent.
“The way our roster is right now, we’re leaning on guys. They’re getting opportunities. We will get better from this. Our team will get better but we had our feet to the fire against some really good players today,” Rillie said.
“It’s been an emotional week for us but the disappointing thing for me is you saw youth and experience in this league. Experience goes a long way. We talked about Davis and Delly and Bul (Kuol) and the physicality they would come with – we just didn’t match that.”
The Wildcats also continued their shooting troubles. They entered the game shooting at 24.6 per cent from outside the arc and were off target early, making only one of their first six attempts.
They took 43 three-point shots for the game and made only 12 of those. Rillie was their most potent shooter from beyond the perimeter with four.
The Wildcats were close enough to be in the game at three-quarter time but Sydney dominated from there, scoring 20 points to six for the final period.
Sydney’s victory came despite head coach Brian Goorjian getting ejected during the third quarter.
Goorjian received a technical foul for jumping in frustration after a foul against his team, then quickly received another tech foul after arguing about that call with the referees.
Those decisions forced him to leave the game and watch from the changerooms.
Goorjian said he was shocked at the decision.
“I’ve done a lot more than that and not got a technical,” he said.
“Usually as coaches, we all know where to tread. If you’ve got one, it’s like ‘I’m not going to go there.” It was boom, boom gone.”
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