Creek, Phoenix rise to end tough week by beating Kings

South East Melbourne Phoenix have rebounded from a turbulent week to upset back-to-back champions the Sydney Kings with a 104-94 win at Qudos Bank Arena.

Captain Mitch Creek stabilised the playoff hopefuls only days after learning teammate Craig Moller would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury and import guard Will Cummings had been released.

After a high-scoring start to Sunday's game characterised by small leads, Creek (33 points, three rebounds) orchestrated a 15-2 run in the third quarter that blew the advantage out to 18.

The 31-year-old forward hit two three-pointers and dunked on transition in that run, which came as South East Melbourne's other star player Alan Williams went to the bench in foul trouble.

American big man Williams (21 points, 15 rebounds) returned later, having been the star of the show early on with 18 first-half points.

Sydney managed to cut the lead to six points as import guard Jaylen Adams (19 points) threatened to pull his side into the contest but their fourth-quarter momentum was short-lived.

The visitors closed in on victory when Creek hit his third triple to restore the game-high 18-point margin and force a timeout with just less than four minutes to play.

The win was only the Phoenix's second away from home from seven games this season and led to them replacing the Kings in third place in the standings after 10 rounds.

It was a merritorious road win against the defending champs for the Phoenix days after the decision to release Cummings, having lost Moller for the season and also being without versatile Kiwi forward Reuben Te Rangi who remained in Melbourne for the birth of his child.

Along with the efforts of Creek and Williams, Ben Ayre delivered 13 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds into the starting line-up for the Phoenix while Matt Kenyon anchored their defence and had 10 points, nine rebounds and two steals.

Rhys Vague came in to play an important 12 minutes for 12 points with 4-of-6 three-point shooting too.

Sydney have now lost three of their last four games, conceding over 100 points in all of those defeats.

Along with Adams' 19 points, Denzel Valentine finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, Jonah Bolden 15 points and 15 rebounds with 4-of-6 long-range shooting, and Jaylin Galloway 12 points, five boards, three assists and two steals.

Things won't get any easier as the second-placed Tasmania JackJumpers await in Hobart next weekend.

HUNGRY JACKS NBL ROUND 10

SYDNEY KINGS 94 (Adams 19, Valentine 18, Galloway 12)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 104 (Creek 33, Williams 21, Ayre 13)

BOX SCORE