Kings down the Breakers in homecoming celebration

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media

Result: Sydney Kings 84 New Zealand Breakers 74

Stats That Matter: Kings 25/28 free throws (89.3%); Rebound count Breakers 48 Kings 33; Kings 16 points from turnovers; Kings 30 points in the paint.

Kings MVP: Casper Ware’s brilliant fourth quarter was a huge key in the team’s victory.

Turning Point: Shaun Bruce made back-to-back outstanding plays to kickstart Sydney’s fourth quarter closing run.

The game was over when: Ware drained a jumper to make it a ten-point Sydney lead with 90 seconds remaining.

Trending in the right direction: Sydney’s defence was outstanding for most of the night in a great follow-up from their win in Adelaide.

A fourth quarter explosion powered by Casper Ware has sent the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings to a heartening 84-74 victory over the New Zealand Breakers in front of 5,833 roaring fans on Friday night at Qudos Bank Arena.

Ware (22 points, three rebounds, four assists) broke the game open in the final six minutes with eight points, as Sydney turned around a five-point deficit to overwhelm the Breakers with a closing 20-5 run, including a game-defining 14 straight points in a five-minute stretch.

It was a second straight game of Ware magic leading his team to the W, and Head Coach Adam Forde paid tribute afterwards to his superstar floor leader.

“That’s what winners do,” Coach Forde said.

“He’s a champion with that aspect and we look to him for guidance in a lot of that area and his experience on the floor in those big moments.”

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it definitely makes my job easier with Casper leading the charge on the floor.

In what was a grind for both teams through three periods, Ware and his teammates energised the crowd with their brilliant fourth quarter, but the man who really sparked the run was one Shaun Bruce (nine points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals), who had two excellent plays in consecutive possessions.

He first knocked in a basket to stop what had been a run of ten straight New Zealand points, then took a key charge to really get the crowd and his team revved up, and it started a purple and gold tidal wave.

“Mate, you talk about a dude you enjoy having on your team,” Coach Forde said of his inspirational guard.

“I look to ‘Brucey’ for that all the time and that’s why we moved him into our starting group.”

“New Zealand went big and we had no hesitation sending him to (Lamar) Patterson. We can rely on him to bring that juice at the defensive end, but the great thing about Brucey too is that if we’ve got a clear point of getting the ball to Jarell (Martin) or Casper or Brad Newley, we can move those chess pieces around knowing that Brucey is going to make that pass, and he delivers it.”

“Brucey’s worth his weight in gold and I’m glad we have him on our team.”

The two Shaun Bruce plays were all the team needed. The defence went to another level, the players’ confidence grew, and offence that had been hard to come by for three quarters was suddenly free-flowing.

Jarell Martin (20 points, six rebounds), who was outstanding in the second half, had a monster tip-jam and then closed the scoring for the Kings with another dunk off a gorgeous behind the back feed from Craig Moller; Dejan Vasiljevic (17 points) added another four points as the purple and gold stormed home to run their NBL21 record to 3-3.

New Zealand dropped to 1-4 on the season and their only reliable threat all night was Corey Webster, who came off the bench to tally 25 points on 10 of 18 shooting from the field and was a constant thorn in the Kings’ side. His brother Tai Webster added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Finn Delany finished with 12 points and eight boards, but there was very little production elsewhere for the visitors.

A key to Sydney’s victory was their brilliance from the foul line. The Kings very nearly set a franchise record as they converted their first 20 free throws, one short of the all-time mark set in December 2014. They would finish the game with an excellent return of 25 made foul shots from 28 attempts; in comparison the Breakers were poor from the charity stripe all night going a paltry nine of 17.

Importantly, Sydney got a terrific victory for the home fans, who have been desperate to see their beloved team up close and personal and were rewarded with yet another tough, uncompromising performance, especially at the defensive end of the floor – the Kings have now held their opposition below 80 points in consecutive games.

“There’s nothing better than coming back here to Qudos,” Shaun Bruce said.

“I think a lot of us who played here last year loved playing here and it’s great to be back home, and great for the new guys to get to experience that as well.”

“I think we didn’t realise how much we missed home till we got back. Credit to the guys, we didn’t complain when we were on the road but getting off the plane and getting back to our homes on Sunday was a great feeling.”

The Kings will close Round Five on Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena with a blockbuster matchup against Brian Goorjian and the Illawarra Hawks. Tickets are on sale NOW via Ticketek.

Rise With Us Sydney.

SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Ware 22, Martin 20, Vasiljevic 17)
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 74 (Corey Webster 25, Tai Webster 13, Delany 12) at Qudos Bank Arena.

BOXSCORE