Fourth Quarter Breaker Run Dooms Kings

By Matt McQuade

Result: New Zealand Breakers 82 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 75

Stats that matter: Kings 15 turnovers; Breakers 19 points off Kings’ turnovers; Breakers 39 bench points; Breakers 10 three-pointers

Kings MVP: Xavier Cooks was outstanding in a beaten side.

Turning Point: A second quarter when the Kings had opportunities to put the hammer down yet failed to capitalise. It gave the Breakers hope.

The game was over when: New Zealand guard Peyton Siva made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

Trending in the right direction: Dejan Vasiljevic hit three triples and looked like he was starting to regain his shooting rhythm.

A devastating fourth quarter spurt by the New Zealand Breakers has carried them to an 82-75 win over the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena.

The Kings led 74-64 with just over five minutes remaining and looked to be well on their way to their fourth victory of the young NBL22 season, but faltered down the stretch as a Breaker unit that had been struggling offensively for most of the night suddenly caught fire when it really counted.

Helped by some poor decision-making from the purple and gold, New Zealand closed the game on an 18-1 run to get just their second win of the season, consigning Sydney to their third straight defeat.

Three-pointers from Breaker point guard Peyton Siva (17 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals), forward Finn Delany (21 points, nine rebounds) and Hugo Besson (12 points, six rebounds) broke the game apart in the final five minutes, stunning the crowd of 4,356.

There’s no doubting that the Breakers made some big shots when they absolutely had to. But in truth, Sydney was in many ways the architects of their own demise.

In the closing five minutes, the Kings missed their final nine field goal attempts, committed three turnovers and struggled to execute in the halfcourt with any kind of fluency.

“It was similar to Illawarra the other night,” said a disappointed Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Chase Buford.

“We played well for about 35 minutes and were able to guard them pretty well; then obviously that 18-1 run isn’t a recipe to win many games.”

“I thought the ball got a little stagnant for us; we were hesitant with our decision-making, and then they hit shots.”

“They got some momentum, got some offensive rebounds which gave them some more life, and you could just feel it coming.”

“They got more and more juice, our guys tightened up, and that was the end.”

It is a defeat the Kings will rue, given they led for all but the final two minutes and several times held a double-figure advantage with chances to really put their foot on New Zealand’s throat.

However, to their credit, the Breakers were able to respond every time Sydney looked like running away with the ballgame.

In the final analysis, it was a frustrating game for the Kings, a team that now drops to eighth on the NBL ladder; and it was a game where they wasted another excellent performance from forward Xavier Cooks (19 points, 13 rebounds), who had his third straight double-double and was tireless at both ends of the court.

But Cooks, who shot an efficient eight of 11 from the field, didn’t see enough of the ball when the game was on the line, particularly when the Breakers were constantly switching on-ball actions and Xavier found himself isolated many times in the low post with a much smaller player guarding him.

“I thought we did a good job getting the ball to Xavier at times,” Coach Buford said.

“Versus switches we’ve got to make quick decisions so we can get the ball to him behind their coverage.”

“We probably could have done that more down the stretch if we’re honest with ourselves, but we didn’t make the plays.”

“We tightened up a bit, the ball got sticky, couldn’t find a way to get it to him and obviously you saw the result.”

Sydney shot the ball at 38.8% from the field, were 7 of 27 from three-point range and 16 of 20 from the foul line. They outrebounded the Breakers 45-41, but New Zealand forced 15 turnovers and scored 19 points from those Sydney miscues in a key stat.

Cooks’ 19 points led the team, but three other Kings scored in double figures – Dejan Vasiljevic (13 points, five rebounds, four assists), Jarell Martin (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Jaylen Adams (10 points, three rebounds, four assists).

Sydney’s next assignment is a home and away mini-series against the Brisbane Bullets in Round Eight.

On Friday night, the Kings will travel to Nissan Arena in Brisbane, before their return engagement with the Bullets on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena. Tickets for the game in the Hoops Capital next Sunday, which is also the opening game of an NBL/WNBL double-header with the Sydney Uni Flames taking on the Perth Lynx post the Kings-Bullets clash, are available via Ticketek.

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NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 82 (Jeremiah Martin 22, Delany 21, Siva 17)
BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 75 (Cooks 19, Vasiljevic 13, Jarell Martin 11) at Qudos Bank Arena.

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