Kings grind out their 12th straight victory with tough win over the Breakers

By Matt McQuade

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 76 New Zealand Breakers 70

Stats that matter: Kings 47% FG; Rebound count Kings 42 Breakers 37; Kings 40 points in the paint; Kings 18 assists

Kings MVP: Jaylen Adams had a quiet first half but was dominant in the final twenty minutes.

Turning Point: The first seven minutes of the second quarter where the Kings held the Breakers to zero field goals.

The game was over when: Jaylen Adams buried a long-range dagger with just over a minute remaining.

Trending in the right direction: Tom Vodanovich continues to provide the team with impactful minutes off the bench.

By any means necessary.

They may not have been at their dynamic best, but the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings found a way to outlast a gutsy New Zealand Breakers 76-70 on Thursday night at Bendigo Basketball Stadium.

Sydney’s 12^th consecutive victory – the outright second longest winning streak in a single season in franchise history and the second longest in the NBL in the last 13 years  – wasn’t built on three-point shooting or a high-powered offence.

No, this was all about grit and grind, working through a difficult situation, and then just figuring things out against an opponent that has given the purple and gold trouble all season.

“They’re a good team, and Dan’s (Dan Shamir) a hell of a coach,” Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Chase Buford said afterwards.

“They did a great job on their switches tonight which I think really stagnated us. I told the guys in the locker room that we got really sticky with the basketball and that’s never a good way to attack that coverage.

“Credit to them, they made it really tough on us, and if I said that the other night wasn’t a grind, this was definitely a grind-it-out win.

“I’m proud to get a win when we weren’t maybe at our best, but credit to New Zealand. I feel for Dan and their group so much, what they’ve been through.”

New Zealand does deserve enormous credit for the way they kept coming after the Kings, even in a situation where they’ve been long out of playoff calculations. They had every right to roll over once Sydney established control in a second quarter where they Kings held the Breakers without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the period, but New Zealand never quit and fought it out to the end.

The Breakers’ four late triples gave them a 20-17 lead after one before the Kings kicked up the intensity a couple of notches and started locking down on New Zealand’s perimeter shooters in the second period, while Xavier Cooks (12 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots), Jarell Martin (seven points, six rebounds) and Makur Maker (10 points, five rebounds) began to impose their will offensively.

A savage two-hand jam from Maker at the end of the half gave Sydney a 41-30 advantage at intermission and it seemed like normal service had been restored.

But not so fast. New Zealand sprinted out of the blocks to start the third with the first eight points of the quarter and the game turned into a dogfight again, with Dejan Vasiljevic (16 points, six rebounds) knocking down a triple to end the Breaker surge. Jaylen Adams (19 points, six rebounds, five assists) then awoke from his first-half slumber with seven points to help keep Sydney’s noses in front.

But with New Zealand bigs Yanni Wetzell (22 points, 14 rebounds) and Finn Delany (18 points, five rebounds, five assists) putting the heat on Sydney’s interior D, the Breakers stayed in touch, down by just five with a quarter remaining, and the Kings’ winning streak was in some jeopardy.

In the fourth period, it was all about getting stops and making plays at the right moments for the purple and gold, and who better in that situation than Sydney’s MVP candidate Jaylen Adams, who all but took over the game down the stretch.

He made big shots, found Tom Vodanovich for a beautiful feed that resulted in a one-hand slam, and after Delany buried a triple to cut Sydney’s lead to only four points with less than ninety seconds remaining, Jaylen made the biggest play of the night, knocking down a straightaway three-point bomb to secure the win for his team.

“I think I was just kind of coming off a little passive and settling in the first half,” Jaylen said.

“I haven’t shot the ball well in the last couple of games and I was relying on my jump shot a little too much in the first half.

“Chase told me early in the second half that I should attack the rim late in the clock – I said something back to him but I knew he was right.

“I tried to attack the rim and I got some shots to fall in the third and fourth.”

The Kings held on to second spot on the NBL ladder with their hard-earned victory, a win that was their eighth straight on the road, equalling the best road winning streak in a single season in franchise history set during the 2005/2006 campaign.

Top spot at the end of the regular season is still a chance for this outfit that has engineered a remarkable turnaround after being 3-6 at one stage – that all seems so long ago.

Sydney shot the ball at a solid 47% from the field, were 7 of 24 from three-point range and 13 of 21 from the free throw line. They outrebounded New Zealand 42-37, dished off for 18 assists and had 40 points in the paint.

The Kings now have a very short turnaround before their Round 20 games, with less than 48 hours before their next game – the biggest of the season to date.

On Thursday April 14, the purple and gold will head to the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong for an historic clash against the Illawarra Hawks – the game signifying Sydney’s 1000^th game in the National Basketball League. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm AEST.

And the following Sunday, the Kings finally head home for a game against the Adelaide 36ers at Qudos Bank Arena with tipoff scheduled for 3:00pm AEST. Tickets for that clash are on sale via Ticketek.

#WE ARE KINGS

BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 76 (Adams 19, Vasiljevic 16, Cooks 12)
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 70 (Wetzell 22, Delany 18, Besson 16) at Bendigo Basketball Stadium.

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