Kings find beauty in winning ugly

Seven days ago, Brian Goorjian believed his Sydney Kings were in a "diabolical" spot, sitting at 3-5.

But after three straight wins, capped by Sunday's comeback win against New Zealand, Goorjian said his side is"back in the hunt".

"Every now and then in this [competition], you're going to play ugly games, and tonight for us, it wasn't pretty," Goorjian said in Sunday's post-game press conference.

"We played a lot of straight up pick and roll, because we're just struggling to get through stuff [offensive].

"We haven't, in my time here, won ugly, so it was nice to get the win.

"Some people could look at the way we played as a negative, saying that we didn't play well, but I'm really happy that we ground it out.

"It's kind of been a rough run [of games] and at about a third of the way through the season, it was looking diabolical two weeks ago. But now we're back in the hunt."

With Matthew Dellavedova and Tim Soares battling illness during the week, Goorjian needed a big game from his bench and Jaylin Galloway delivered in a big way, thanks to three steals and numerous defensive stops.

"Over the course of those [three] wins, his athleticism, running the floor and defending have been cornerstones for him and us," Goorjian said.

"As he continues to cover those boxes, the offensive side is going to open up for him, like we saw tonight.

"Honestly, we were in diabolical trouble on the defensive end until he brought the energy and changed the game for us."

2025 FIBA Asia Cup MVP Galloway, who's adjusting well to his new bench role, says his Harbour City side aren't getting too ahead of themselves after three wins on the bounce.

"Goorj always says it's all about getting better, day by day," Galloway said.

"Even though we've won three straight, I don't think we're in a position to say we've got this under control.

"We know what we're capable of as a group and I don't think we're even close to reaching that."

That potential and win streak will be put to the test now, with the Kings' next game in Sydney not until December 21 against Cairns.

"I believe our team actually plays better on the road and embraces it, so we're all excited to show what we can do," Galloway said.

That string of six games away from Qudos Bank Arena starts on Sunday, when the Kings travel down the Princes Highway to play rivals Illawarra, headlined by JaVale McGee, at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

"They were a hell of a team last year, going on to win the championship, and you can see it's all starting to come together for them again," Goorjian said.

"It's a strong rivalry that both teams appreciate the importance of. It's an exciting challenge, especially taking on someone like JaVale McGee, who was not just an NBA player but a good NBA player.

"He's huge and there are aspects with that that give them a real advantage, but on the flip side, it's about how we can exploit that and make the most of that matchup from our offensive end.

"Whoever wins that matchup is going to have a big say in who wins the game."

Sunday's Freeway Series tips off at 2.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN and Channel 10.