Kings lose high-scoring affair to Breakers

The Sydney Kings lost a high-scoring affair 109-101 to the New Zealand Breakers at Spark Arena on Friday, December 22.

The round 12 loss by the two-time reigning champions sees them slip from second to fourth on the ladder. 

Match summary 

The Breakers raced out to a 6-2 lead powered by the creativity of Anthony Lamb and Parker Jackson-Cartwright, which soon became 16-6 following six quick ones by Mantas Rubstavicius. The Kings continued to struggle on offence against the host’s zone while conceding 15 straight points on the defensive end (to trail 23-6). A time-out by Mahmoud Abdelfattah stopped the momentum and sparked a 9-0 run by the Hoops Capital side – powered by bench duo Jonah Bolden and Angis Glover. A late link-up by Shaun Bruce to Jordi Hunter made it 29-17. 

GRAB YOUR TICKETS TO THE KINGS' HOME MATCHES NOW

An early and-one by Hogg reduced the margin to single digits before strong play by Denzel Valentine and Hunter closed it even further. The latter then produced a huge slam and block – which led to an and-one by Jaylin Galloway (making it 35-31). Back-to-back triples by Izayah Le'afa stretched it back to 10 but the Kings responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by triples by Alex Toohey and Kouat Noi – to bring it back to two points. Consecutive and-ones by Toohey and Bruce and a driving lay-up by Galloway tied it up at 49-all. The two sides traded buckets at=s time ticked down, seeing it all tied up at 53 at the main break. 

WHAT A SEQUENCE!! ??#LetItReign pic.twitter.com/HX7J4VF2FB

— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) December 22, 2023

A number of suspect calls helped the hosts start the third in a 9-0, which was ended by a Noi triple. The Newcastle product was the Kings’ main source of points for the first part of the third but that was cancelled out by countless free-throws by New Zealand (thanks to a 7-1 four count through the first eight minutes of the period). The third proved not to be the Kings' quarter, losing it 33-15 – to trail by 17 going into the third. 

Sydney came out stronger in the fourth, going on an 11-6 run, thanks to nine straight from NBL22 MVP Adams. Contributions from Noi and Hogg kept the scoreboard ticking over the purple and gold – the margin closed to 99-90 with just over three to play. The Kings then went to a small-ball line-up, which saw Hogg and Toohey go to work and make it a two-possession game. A tense finish ensued, with the Kings’ defence keeping them in it but the Breakers held their nerve and ended up winning 109-101. 

Where the match was decided 

Apart from the lob-sided 31-21 foul count against the Kings, New Zealand won the match thanks to a superior field goal percentage (53-48), assists (22-19), steals (9-6), points off turnovers (27-20) and fast-break points (12-6) - while also committing seven more turnovers (20-13).

Key moment 

All of Sydney's strong work in the second quarter to work themselves back in the game was undone by a 33-15 third period, which proved too much of a deficit to overcome.

Player of the game 

Noi, in his return to the line-up, led the way for the Kings with 19 points, four rebounds and one assist.

Other to reach double-figures in the loss were Toohey, Hogg (both 15), Adams (14) and Hunter (10).

What’s next 

Mahmoud Abdelfattah’s side, who are now 9-7, now return to Qudos Bank Arena for the second-annual Christmas night clash with Illawarra – tipping off at 7.15pm AEDT. 

Tickets for that festive clash are available here.