THE Perth Redbacks were without perhaps their two most important players and had their two imports hobbled during the game but bounced back from a tough loss last week to beat the Mandurah Magic on Friday on the back of huge performances by Lewis Thomas and Simon Lokan.

The Redbacks came into the game with star locals Joel Wagner and Michael Vigor both sidelined with ankle injuries and coming off the memory of being outscored by 43 points last Saturday night by the Willetton Tigers after leading at half-time.

To make matters worse the Magic were coming off the high of a last second drought breaking win last week over the Lakeside Lightning.

Without Wagner, Jourdan DeMuynck was again entrusted to do most of the point guard duties but when he jammed a toe in the opening minutes that really left Nik Lackovic with some thinking to do.

DeMuynck did return shortly before half-time and played a solid second half while significantly limited. Then during the third quarter fellow import Reed McConnell rolled an ankle when tripping over Aron Lopez who was on the bench after McConnell missed a three and turned to run.

He was able to return but was also hindered by that so it all meant that the Redbacks had some work to do.

Their cause was certainly helped with the Magic without a true point guard when Jarrad Jackson fell ill on Friday afternoon ruling him out of the game, but Mandurah still started strongly and even managed to lead by a point at quarter-time.

The Redbacks steadied in the second quarter with Thomas simply on fire sensing the need to stand up without Wagner, Vigor and DeMuynck. He delivered 27 first half points and Lokan was outstanding starting in the place of Vigor.

But the Magic wouldn’t go away and a buzzer-beating three from Trevor Setty going into half-time had them still within seven at the break.

The Magic managed to keep the game close enough to give themselves a chance during the third quarter, but the Redbacks pulled away in the fourth with their energy, hustle and ability to find open shots and knock them down and contain the Magic leading to the 24-point win.

It was an important win for the Redbacks as well following last week's loss to the Tigers with it improving them to a 12-8 record to be solid in the top eight and not out of the running still for a top four finish.

While DeMuynck (six points, eight rebounds, five assists) and McConnell (13 points, seven boards, four assists) still contributed, in the absence of Vigor inside it was Thomas and Lokan who were the deciding factors in the game.

Thomas was simply unstoppable from the moment DeMuynck with his ability to shoot from the outside and get to the rim along with his energy and hustle a delight to watch. He ended the night with 40 points, 16 rebounds, four steals, three assists and three blocked shots shooting 14-of-27 from the field and 6-of-12 from deep.

Lokan started in place of Vigor and had a night to remember as well with 23 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks shooting 9-of-14 and nailing a three.

Coach Lackovic couldn’t have been happier with his group's response to the loss to the Tigers and to see it spearheaded by Thomas and Lokan.

"We were really disappointed with our second half last week and I was pretty confident that the group would respond the right way. They had a great week at training, we made some adjustments knowing that Michael is out for a little while and Joel is still out another week or two," Lackovic said.

"It was great getting guys like Simon really integrated into our system and played a role that was outstanding against some quality bigs. Lewis was just amazing. The mindset that he had knowing that he had to share a larger load was phenomenal.

"His efficiency was off the chart and he rebounded, ran the floor, finished shots and played with such a competiveness that he was a true leader for us. That leadership is something that we are really high on right now with these guys to share that responsibility. He was phenomenal."

Lackovic didn’t need to say anything to Thomas about him needing to step up as the Redbacks No. 1 option once DeMuynck left the floor after just two minutes. It's something he did automatically and he was delighted to see his big man rewarded with a career night.

"Jourdan only played five minutes in the first half and he was completely ineffective. He only came back on to see if he could give us anything for the second half," Lackovic said.

"Without having to mention anything to Lewis, he recognised that and he took a lot more ownership out there on the floor and most of the stuff ran through him, which was phenomenal. Then obviously Reed tweaked his ankle as well.

"I couldn’t be happier for a guy like Lewis. He is so selfless and never demands anything, he trains hard and picks up the toughest match ups from the bigs at the defensive end of the floor. This was a great reward for him."

As for the Magic, they were coming off a high after beating the Lightning last week and with the Redbacks missing some important players, coach Jason Kyle saw it as a real chance for his team to show the progression they are making.

While he was relatively happy with the way they competed at least for three quarters, he returned to Mandurah frustrated that the Magic missed an opportunity to really start to build some momentum heading to the rest of the season.

"This game was an opportunity for us and we let ourselves down. They had two of their premium guys out, as do we obviously being without Taylor for most of the year and JJ was out again," Kyle said.

"It was a game of missed opportunities I thought. We had a reasonable first half but we started the third quarter sluggish and missed some easy looks. Our defence did step up and we created some tough looks for them, but we just didn’t capitalise.

"I really felt we could have gone into the three quarter break only trailing by four or five, but we missed three or four layups and from then they got a bit of momentum and confidence to hit some shots. All credit to them but I think we missed some opportunities to make that game a lot closer than it was."

The Magic certainly missed having Jackson running the point and Kyle hopes he isn’t sidelined much longer with what now appears a stomach problem that saw him hospitalised briefly on Friday.

Setty still managed 25 points but shot just 9-of-24 and had seven turnovers and while Ben Smith battled hard for 15 points and 15 rebounds, it was tough going against Thomas and Lokan.

"We really missed JJ and his leadership out there on the floor. That was a real bugger to find out late in the afternoon he was going to be out and we hope he's not out for too long. Ben toiled away hard but I thought both their big guys played really well and were aggressive," Kyle said.

"I don’t think we got enough good ball into Ben. Trevor's a unique player and he's certainly a very different individual. He has a great way of creating shots, it's just about getting that balance of when he's an individual and when he can work within the team setup. He did that incredibly well last week and this game he was OK, but he really didn’t get going."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography