On January 5th 2008 the Melbourne Tigers and Sydney Kings took the NBL back to the glory days of the 90s. Sydney's best crowd of the season turned up for what became the game of the season, and possibly the best game over the past couple years.
Passion of the Goorj - photos: pix.s23.com.au
Yes it was game of the year, and no it wasn't televised (no NBL was for that matter), but that could have been the reason behind Sydney's biggest crowd of the season and with that the best atmosphere experienced at the venue since the Threepeat.
Chris Anstey who was a doubtful starter battled through a painful back injury to continue his push for the Hummer... i mean MVP trophy.
Just when it looked like the Tigers would end Sydney's winning streak Luke Kendall twice took it to the rack inside the last 20 seconds, forcing the game into OT and the crowd into a frenzy.
When Mark Worthington (below) hit a clutch triple the roof lifted and momentum was completely behind the Kings.
Melbourne's new import Sean Lampley continued to build his reputation as the player opposition fans love to hate, his antics from the Tigers previous game against Perth had a few fans keen to see if it was just a one off, it wasn't.
Is he bad for the league? I think not, the NBL needs characters.
Anyway, instead of a game recap, these pics tell the rest of the story, showing the passion from the Goorj through to the fans.
