Breakers with Huge Finish to Topple Kings

The New Zealand Breakers have been overrun a couple of times in #NBL22 but switched the tide on Sunday turning a 10-point deficit with five minutes to go into an impressive 82-75 victory over the Sydney Kings.

Sydney got off to a fast start at Qudos Bank Arena as Round 7 continued in the NBL on Sunday. The Kings remained in control most of the way including holding a 10-point advantage after a three-point play from Xavier Cooks with just over five minutes to go.

However, from there it was all the Breakers with them scoring 18 of the game's last 19 points in a remarkable finish to turn a 10-point deficit into the seven-point victory that was their second win of the season on back-to-back Sunday afternoons.

A big overturned call following a coach's challenge for Dan Shamir with 22.4 seconds that kept possession for the Breakers proved pivotal, but ultimately it was the 22 points for the game from Jeremiah Martin, and late threes from Peyton Siva and Finn Delany that were match-winning.

On top of Martin's 22 points for New Zealand, Delany added 21 points and nine rebounds including hitting 5/10 from three-point range. 

Peyton Siva had 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals, Hugo Besson 12 points and six rebounds and Yanni Wetzell 10 points and six boards with Will McDowell-White struggling with a back injury and playing just 10 minutes.

Even Breakers coach Dan Shamir wasn’t quite sure how the turnaround came about, but he was understandably proud of his team.

"The honest answer is that I'm not sure but all of a sudden in the fourth quarter we had 30 points after really struggling early offensively," Shamir said. 

"You could see it on our guys' faces a little bit with the struggle and that's absolutely normal in our situation, but the big thing was that we dug in. A few shots started falling, we made a few big plays and got some offensive rebounds, got some big stops and pulled out a great win."

Giving up an 18-1 run to close the game will be a tough pill to swallow for the Kings but Xavier Cooks was a shining light with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

DJ Vasiljevic also had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, Jarell Martin 11 points and 10 boards, and Jaylen Adams 10 points and four assists.

Kings coach Chase Buford didn’t mince words over his reaction to the loss.

"We should be embarrassed by the way we finished the game, it's as simple as that and it's got to hurt because that's not good enough," Buford said.

"It was similar to the Illawarra game the other night. I thought we played well for about 30 or 35 minutes, and were able to guard them pretty well but then obviously we gave up 16-1 in the last five minutes. That's not a recipe to win any games.

"I thought the ball got a little stagnant for us, we were hesitant on the decision-making which you can't be when people are switching. You have to be confident in your decisions and play fast through it, and attack it. We didn’t do it and then they got some momentum, some offensive rebounds and hit shots."

Searching for a first win since December 22, the Kings started strongly back on their home floor with DJ Vasiljevic enjoying the start to open up with a three-pointer.

Jarell Martin and Xavier Cooks then combined to put the home team on top 7-2 but it would be Jeremiah Martin who kept the Breakers close. He scored nine points on his own in the first term for New Zealand but still Sydney was on top by quarter-time leading 24-17.

Scoring from both teams really dried up in the second period with the game turning decidedly scrappy, but again it was Martin keeping New Zealand close with a three ball to go to 12 points to be the only player on either side to score in double-figures in the half.

Finn Delany also connected from beyond the arc for the Breakers but Sydney still led 34-30 by half-time despite just the 10 points in the quarter.

The Kings came out ready to make a statement to open the second half and went on an 8-0 streak to suddenly lead by double-figures with the Breakers looking to lack some energy with the game slipping away. 

However, a timeout from Dan Shamir helped to settle New Zealand and Delany and Peyton Siva soon knocked down three-pointers and suddenly it was just a two-point ball game once again.

The Kings' lead only got back out to five on three quarter-time thanks to a Shaun Bruce three on the buzzer but Delany cancelled that out when he hit a triple of his own to open the fourth period for the Breakers.

However, Sydney responded with a pair of three-point bombs from Vasiljevic and then with just over five minutes remaining with an and-one bucket to Cooks, the Kings remained in control leading 74-64.

But the game underwent a remarkable transformation the rest of the way starting with a couple of New Zealand baskets to Martin. Besson then nailed a triple, Siva did the same and all of a sudden with an 11-0 run, the Breakers led for the first time in the game.

Jaylen Adams tied scores up with two minutes left with a free-throw for Sydney, but that would be their only score in the final five minutes of the game. A couple of offensive rebounds saw Delany eventually hit the game-winning three for a memorable Breakers win.

The Breakers now return to Tasmania to play the JackJumpers in Hobart on Wednesday while the Kings have two games in three days against the Brisbane Bullets starting on the road on Friday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 7

SYDNEY KINGS 75 (Cooks 19, Vasiljevic 13, Martin 11)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 82 (Martin 22, Delany 21, Siva 17) 

BOX SCORE