Streak Breaking 36ers Snap Kings' Winning Run

Call them the streak breakers. The Adelaide 36ers ended the Sydney Kings run of 13 consecutive matches on the back of a stunning late shooting for the 90-82 win at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday.

The 36ers ended a nine-game winning streak of Melbourne United earlier in the season and then on the back of winning in Perth over the Wildcats on Friday night, they continued to build some momentum to close out the NBL22 season on Sunday.

The Kings had locked away a playoff spot on the back of winning their previous 13 matches, but they still needed to keep winning for a top-two finish to be secured, but the 36ers were having none of it.

Little separated the two teams for much of the afternoon and even without the presence of Jarell Martin, the Kings did have their moments where they looked to be heading for that 14th consecutive win.

Sydney did lead with just over five minutes to go 70-69 with another score from Xavier Cooks, but it was all the Sixers from there. A three ball from Mitch McCarron put them back on top and then in the space of two minutes Sunday Dech, Daniel Johnson and Dusty Hannahs all hit from downtown.

Dech then hit another and those five threes in the space of four minutes late in the game was enough to give Adelaide consecutive road wins and to snap the streak of the Kings in their first home game in six weeks.

Dusty Hannahs backed up his 23 points on Thursday in Perth with another 22 for Adelaide to go with three assists. 

Daniel Johnson put up 16 points and 11 rebounds, Sunday Dech 11 points and three boards, and Zac Gattorna 10 points in 10 minutes after having just two career points coming into the game.

Sixers coach CJ Bruton was delighted in his team to back up with the win in Perth with this win in Sydney.

"We set out for this goal and I think to be able to achieve it is definitely good. The effort and energy, the focus and after I said after the Perth game, was really good," Bruton said.

"I think it carried over and we started like how we finished in Perth and I don’t know if it was tired legs or whatever, but the shots that we took were still good. I thought our boys were up for the challenge all the way through and I had to go deep into the bench and use everyone, and everyone contributed. In the end, we got great results this weekend."

Jaylen Adams finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Sydney with Xavier Cooks contributing 21 points and 13 rebounds, Makur Maker 15 points and six boards, and DJ Vasiljevic 10 points.

Kings coach Chase Buford just felt his team came up against an opposition that showed more of a desire to win.

"I think we got outcompeted. I don’t know if it was tired legs after a busy week and you could probably come up with a number of excuses, but at the end of the day they just wanted it more than us," Buford said.

"It was apparent on the offensive rebounds for sure and when there was 50-50 balls or little plays, they were the first to it all night and we were second best."

DJ Vasiljevic picked up where he left off on Thursday draining a three to start the game for Sydney but Sunday Dech was terrific three days ago too for Adelaide and he nailed one early from beyond the arc.

Makur Maker did the same for Sydney and then Xavier Cooks gave the home team an 8-3 start, but the 36ers worked their way back into it with a spark again off the bench from Dusty Hannahs with seven points to cut the Kings lead at quarter-time to two.

Adelaide then assumed the lead to start the second term first with an and-one from Mojave King and then bucket from Hannahs. The pair then combined for another five straight points and the Sixers were up six.

That became seven with a Tad Dufelmeier three ball and the 36ers stayed on top when Daniel Johnson delivered an alley-oop for a Kai Sotto flush. However, Jaylen Adams closed out the half with two big threes and the Kings took a 40-38 edge into half-time.

The Kings threatened to run away with it to start the second half scoring 11 of the first 15 points to open up a nine-point advantage. Sydney was then up 10 when Adams knocked down another three ball, but Adelaide responded and it was all started by development player Zac Gattorna.

He had only scored two career points but all of a sudden the Perth Redbacks NBL1 West star lit it up with five quick points before Hannahs topped off an 11-0 run.

A Kai Sotto and-one kept Adelaide on top 62-61 by three quarter-time and they weren’t going away. A strong move inside from Gattorna gave him a three-point play and when Dech and Mitch McCarron hit triples, they were up three with five minutes to go.

A minute later and Adelaide went up six with Johnson dropping a three ball and then with three to go, Hannahs dug deep into his bag of tricks to knock down the incredible three with Ian Clark in his face.

That put the 36ers up 81-72 and another triple from Dech stretched that out to 10 with two minutes on the clock, and from there the Sixers spoiled Sydney's homecoming with the eight-point win.

While the Kings are guaranteed of taking part in finals, the last round will now determine where they finish with a trip to Cairns on Thursday and then a home game with the Illawarra Hawks next Sunday.

The 36ers remain on the road to close out their season in the last round in Melbourne against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday and then in Hobart against the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 20

SYDNEY KINGS 82 (Adams 28, Cooks 21, Makur Maker 15)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 90 (Hannahs 22, Johnson 16, Dech 11) 

BOX SCORE