Illness-hit Kings smash out-of-sorts Breakers in NBL
The Sydney Kings have defied illness within their camp to jump to third position on the NBL ladder with a clinical 98-83 victory over the out-of-form New Zealand Breakers.
The Kings were never headed or threatened at Wellington's TSB Arena on Saturday night, dominating the opening quarter 25-14 before putting their foot down again with an equally commanding 25-15 third term.
Star American guard Jaylen Adams, battling flu symptoms, came off the bench to post 20 points and eight assists, while fellow flu-hit import Cam Oliver also impressed.
The @SydneyKings move to third on the NBL25 ladder 👑
Jaylen Adams led from the front and is the Foot Locker Player of the Game 👟 pic.twitter.com/UJqSU4CDZF— NBL (@NBL) December 7, 2024
Xavier Cooks (20 points) and Kouat Noi (19) kept Sydney's scoreboard moving.
"We had both imports out for our practice sessions, so we've had that young Australian group working together for three or four days," Sydney coach Brian Goorjian said.
"There was just an energy and camaraderie about that.
"I thought that's how we started the game.
"The imports came in and they were excited about what the group looked like and where we were at."
Imports Parker Jackson-Cartwright (21 points, eight boards, six assists) and Matthew Mooney (19 points) led the charge for the Breakers, who were riddled with turnovers throughout and were flattered by the final score.
New Zealand began the game with two turnovers in 90 seconds, allowing Sydney to leap ahead 9-0.
The home side showed better signs in the second stanza, but still trailed 52-40 at halftime.
Jackson-Cartwright's pull-up trey reduced the deficit to seven points early in the third quarter, before the Kings put their foot firmly down, going on a 20-3 run that included a 13-0 burst to break the game wide open.
Adams' fast-handed strip of Mojave King and underarm alley-oop to flu buddy Oliver was the highlight of that sequence.
Adams and Cooks continued to make strong plays in the fourth quarter as the margin ballooned to 26 points.
The Breakers' fast finish limited some of the scoreboard damage, but it wasn't enough to stop them slumping from third to fifth place and to their fourth successive defeat since the FIBA break by an average margin of 22.8 points.
"Disappointed about the loss but I liked the effort today," Breakers coach Petteri Koponen said.
"I think we got better - we kept fighting and competing.
"We had too many turnovers, again, which I think was the big key for tonight's loss."
