Comeback Kings fall just short in Breakers homecoming

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media 

Result: New Zealand Breakers 89 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 81

Stats That Matter: Breakers 14 three pointers; Kings 48 points in the paint; Kings 13 turnovers; Breakers 13/15 FT (87%)

Kings MVP: Casper Ware almost got the Kings across the line in a brave effort.

Turning Point: A 13-2 run in the second quarter put the Breakers firmly in control.

The game was over when: Rasmus Bach snuck in for a lay-up with just over a minute remaining.

Trending in the right direction: Xavier Cooks continued his rapid progress after a long absence.

A Casper Ware-led comeback bid has fallen just short for the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings on Thursday night at Trusts Arena in Auckland and they have gone down 89-81 to the New Zealand Breakers in the first game of their Round 19 New Zealand double.

The Kings trailed by 20 points early in the fourth before Ware launched a personal rescue mission, nailing 13 of his team-high 20 points in the final eight minutes to power a spectacular fightback for the purple and gold.

Ware had a run of nine straight points for his team at one point and the sell-out crowd in Auckland started to get very nervous, as a suddenly energised Sydney unit behind their dynamic floor leader steadily ate into what had been a large Breaker advantage.

The Kings reduced the margin to just five points, 85-80, on a clutch triple from Craig Moller at the 3:27 mark and it looked like the Kings were going to spoil the party on what was homecoming night for New Zealand after a five-month absence from their home country.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the Kings, and the Moller three was the last field goal Sydney was able to hit for the game. Late turnovers and some missed looks plus a couple of defensive breakdowns in the final two minutes hurt the purple and gold, and their inability to execute in crunch time saw them fall to fifth place on the NBL ladder with a 15-16 record.

In truth, the Kings were as much the architects of their own demise as anything else, something Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Adam Forde acknowledged at the post-game press conference.

Defensively, the team struggled for most of the night to contain New Zealand’s potent outside shooters, who were a blistering 10 of 15 from three-point range in the first half as the Breakers jumped to a 51-39 halftime lead after Sydney kept pace with them in a high-octane opening quarter.

“There were a lot of breakdowns,” Coach Forde said.

“Our rotations were sloppy for one, so we got them good looks. To counter that, we started switching on-balls, but our sloppiness meant they had straight-line drives.”

“We tried to extend a little bit, but we were too high in our frontline and too far back in our backline, so they just picked us apart there. We tried hard-showing on the on-balls and they just went to their shooters in the corner.”

“By no means was it a case of these guys making tough shots; we let them shoot their shots and they did well to capitalise on that.”

Ware added four rebounds and three assists to his 20 points on the night and he was well-supported by Jarell Martin, who finished with 18 points and five rebounds, while veterans Brad Newley and Daniel Kickert combined for 15 points off the bench.

And in an encouraging sign, Xavier Cooks took another step to getting back into genuine game shape with a fine offensive display. He finished with 15 points, including a perfect seven of seven from the free throw line, in just 16 minutes of action, and Coach Forde is eagerly anticipating a time in the near future when his star forward will no longer be held back by a minutes’ restriction.

“I hope so,” Coach Forde said of Xavier’s potential for more minutes moving forward.

“He adds a layer to our defence; he’s a target for us at the offensive end and he’s another guy who can handle the ball and bring it down the floor for us.”

“He’s restricted obviously with his time, but the opportunity to get more minutes out of him is something I’m very looking forward to.”

The Kings shot the ball at 43% from the field, were just 6 of 26 from three-point range and 13 of 16 from the free throw line. In contrast, New Zealand made 49% of their field goal attempts, knocked down 14 triples at a 51% clip and went 13 of 15 at the charity stripe.

Sydney had troubles defending Breaker forward Finn Delany all night, and he went for 28 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Levi Randolph finished with 13 points and nine rebounds and William McDowell-White contributed 12 points, four rebounds and seven assists for New Zealand, who snapped their four-game losing streak with what was, for them, an emotional victory.

Sydney closes Round 19 with another game against the Breakers on Saturday May 22 at TSB Stadium in New Plymouth. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30pm AEST.

Rise With Us Sydney.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Delany 28, Randolph 13, McDowell-White 12)
BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 81 (Ware 20, Martin 18, Cooks 15) at The Trusts Arena, Auckland.

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