Sydney becoming crowd Kings of NBL

Sydney Kings coach Chase Buford has praised his side for putting on a show in front of rising home crowd numbers at Qudos Bank Arena.

In their 84-97 win on Sunday over the Hawks, the Kings brought in the sixth-biggest home crowd in club history, with a total of 12,986 fans piling into Qudos Bank Arena to support the reigning champions.

Sydney has hosted four crowds in a row with over 11,000 fans (a franchise first) this season and Buford acknowledged the team’s engagement with supporters and putting on a “fun product”.

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“It’s a fun product I think the guys do a great job of fan engagement to keep people interested and intrigued and to make lifelong fans,” Buford said.

“To have 13,000 fans come out is great.

“The quality of basketball that these guys have put on for not only this year but over the last couple of years now, I think fans recognise it’s a fun style to come and watch. We dunk it more than anybody in the league, probably by double that would be my guess.”

Although the Kings looked slightly off their best on Sunday, the five-point win over local rivals Illawarra made Buford appreciate the persistence the Hawks' coach Jacob Jackomas and his team are displaying.

In round 15, the Kings recorded a whopping 49-point win over the Brisbane Bullets, and Buford has praised the bottom-of-the-ladder Hawks’ hunger.

“They all count the same at the end of the day,” Buford said.

“They’re not all going to be 49-point games, that’s a huge testament to how the Hawks have been playing and how competitive they are right now,” he said.

The top-of-the-ladder Kings play the Perth Wildcats on Friday at 9:30pm AEDT, before returning home to face the Breakers on Sunday - with tickets available here.