Kings hold onto finals hopes with win over the Breakers

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media 

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 81 New Zealand Breakers 76

Stats That Matter: Kings 33/39 FT (84%); Rebound count Kings 53 Breakers 39; Kings 15 offensive rebounds; Kings 18 second chance points.

Kings MVP: Jarell Martin was unstoppable offensively for the purple and gold.

Turning Point: Sydney’s entire fourth quarter defensive effort.

The game was over when: Shaun Bruce secured an offensive rebound off a missed free throw with 2.7 seconds left.

Trending in the right direction: Sydney’s backcourt defence was exceptional when the game was there to be won.

A gutsy fourth quarter defensive effort has given the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings a thrilling 81-76 win over the New Zealand Breakers on Saturday night at TSB Stadium in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Trailing by five points at the end of the third quarter and outplayed for much of the first half, the Kings locked down in the final ten minutes to record a victory that gets their run to the playoffs back on track.

Led by import forward Jarell Martin, who scored nine of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, including a crucial bucket at the 1:50 mark that gave Sydney a 75-71 lead and two clutch free throws with seven seconds remaining, the purple and gold fought with everything they had to turn back New Zealand and get a split of their Round 19 road double after their loss to the Breakers on Thursday night in Auckland.

Sydney shot just 2 of 15 from three-point range and struggled offensively for much of the night, making their win even more impressive given they had to get it done through grit and determination at the defensive end of the floor.

Indeed, that was the story of the final minute of the game. After Corey Webster scored to reduce Sydney’s lead to just two points, Craig Moller stepped out of bounds on the next possession. Following the turnover, Webster had an opportunity to tie the game, getting the ball back for the home team after a three-point miss from Rasmus Bach, but he was denied by superb defence from Shaun Bruce.

Then it was Casper Ware’s turn after Martin’s free throws extended the margin to four. New Zealand called for time and advanced the ball into the frontcourt, but they couldn’t inbound the ball thanks to Ware’s relentless pressure. The Sydney import guard forced a five second violation from the Breakers and got the ball back for the Kings in what was one of the plays of the game.

Bruce was immediately fouled on the next possession, and he made one of two at the free throw line to extend the margin to five points before Webster made a desperation heave for three that gave New Zealand a glimmer of hope.

The Breakers needed to stop the clock as quickly as they could, and they put Ware on the free throw line with four seconds left. He made the first foul shot and missed the second, but Bruce was there to grab a huge offensive rebound, and after he was fouled, the Kings’ guard drained both from the charity stripe to close it out.

In the aftermath of a win that gets Sydney back to .500 on the season with a 16-16 record, Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings Head Coach Adam Forde paid tribute to his team’s resilient performance.

“The message going into the game and at halftime was about defending those individual matchups and the guys really responded,” Coach Forde said.

“Brucey was outstanding, especially in the fourth. We left him out there with four fouls and we sort of risked it, but it paid off in our favour.”

“We shot 2 of 15 from three and we were 1 of 8 after three quarters so we knew the game wasn’t going to be won there. We had to pick up defensively and try to get to the backend of our offence; get on the rim and get on the foul line – pretty much the message we’ve been preaching all year.”

“I was very impressed with the guys and how they responded in the second half.”

Martin was explosive in the first half with 16 points, with New Zealand unable to contain him off the dribble. He was an individual mismatch no matter who the Breakers threw at him, and in many ways, he kept a cold-shooting Kings in the ballgame, as they trailed by just six at intermission, 44-38, a margin that could have been much larger.

Sydney’s effort out of the halftime break was noticeably better, with Martin and Jordan Hunter combining for the first four points of the third period before Hunter posterised New Zealand centre Colton Iverson with a vicious two-hand slam that earned him a three-point play.

That move served to energise the visitors further, and they took a 48-47 lead before an 8-2 Breaker run put the home team back on top, but the Kings stayed close the rest of the period, setting up what may turn out to be a crucial ten minutes for Sydney in the NBL21 regular season.

Martin shot 12 of 21 from the field for his 29 points and added nine rebounds, Casper Ware struggled with his shot for most of the game but his defence was outstanding when it really counted and he still finished with 15 points on the night, while Hunter was excellent once again in contributing 14 points and seven rebounds.

Sydney outrebounded New Zealand 53-39 and held the Breakers to just 37% shooting from the field. Levi Randolph was the Breakers’ main offensive threat with 25 points and five rebounds; Corey Webster finished with 13 points off the bench and Tai Webster had 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, although he shot just 4 of 16 from the field thanks to the stifling defence of Ware and Shaun Bruce.

The Kings face an enormous challenge in Round 20, the penultimate round of the NBL21 regular season. Sydney travels to Perth to face the Wildcats at RAC Arena on Thursday 27 May with tipoff scheduled for 9:30pm AEST, and then heads back home to take on Melbourne United at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday 29 May, with tipoff scheduled for 8:00pm AEST.

Rise With Us Sydney.

BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 81 (Martin 29, Ware 15, Hunter 14)
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 76 (Randolph 25, C. Webster 13, T. Webster 12) at TSB Stadium, New Plymouth.

BOXSCORE