Kings Go Top of NBL with 17th Straight Road Win

The New Zealand Breakers made them earn it getting back within two points after a 22-point deficit but the Sydney Kings will go into the FIBA break on top of the NBL and on a 17-game road winning streak after Sunday's 81-77 win.

Top spot went on the line at Spark Arena on the final day of action before the NBL takes a break for the FIBA window with the Breakers looking for a fourth consecutive win to hold that first place while the Kings arrived having not lost away from Sydney since April 24.

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Both teams lost a key player along the way with Xavier Cooks hurting an ankle late in the first half and Breakers Next Star Rayan Rupert suffering a suspected fractured wrist.

Before he went down Cooks inspired the Kings to a dominant first half where he had 13 points and four rebounds with his team leading by as much as 22 having kept New Zealand to 27 first half points.

Sydney was still up 18 by three quarter-time but New Zealand kept charging sparked by two triples from returning captain Tom Abercrombie playing his first game of the season, and first at Spark Arena in 1010 days.

The Breakers did keep coming and even got within two in the dying stages with Sydney's free-throw woes coming back to bite.

But Derrick Walton Jr made two to ice the game and the Kings won by four to improve to 7-2 on the season with the 17 consecutive away wins.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cooks slams it home courtesy of yet another GORGEOUS Derrick Walton Jr dime ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live &amp; free on 10 Peach &amp; 10play | Live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/Yt0W9Ae6NS">pic.twitter.com/Yt0W9Ae6NS</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1589102686644731904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Along with the 13 points and four boards from Cooks in the first half, Justin Simon added 13 points, five boards and four steals despite going 1/9 at the free-throw line.

Tim Soares added 11 points and eight rebounds, DJ Vasiljevic eight points and six boards, Kouat Noi eight points, and Jaylin Galloway seven points.

Kings coach Chase Buford knows there's improvement left in his team, but can't complain too much with where they sit as reigning champs.

"I feel like we're really just scratching the surface with this group. Derrick was 1/11 tonight but I thought he did a lot of really good things especially in the first half when he was great," Buford said.

"I feel like he's got so much more he's going to give as the season goes on. Just shows he can score and do a lot of things, and provides such a punch from his position and Tim and Jordie are finding their feet game after game. 

"When one steps off, the other steps up right away and I think the balance on this team is really great. We probably go how X takes us in a lot of ways, but it's just a fun team to be a part of."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Soares slips through the D for another slam ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live &amp; free on 10 Peach &amp; 10play | Live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/ijHn3kvHLo">pic.twitter.com/ijHn3kvHLo</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1589101191262220290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Barry Brown Jr again top-scored for the Breakers with 22 points to go with five rebounds and three steals.

Izayah Le'afa contributed 15 points and four assists, Dererk Pardon 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, Will McDowell-White 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Jarrell Brantley nine points and seven boards. 

Breakers coach Mody Maor will look for his team to learn plenty from what they came up against from the Kings.

"I don't have concerns, concerns is when you think something is wrong. What we saw today is the normal progress for a young team, you don't always win," Maor said.

"When you go and play against the defending champions, sometimes they play better than you. In the process of us coming together as a unit and bringing in young and new players, we never expected this to be linear. 

"That's not how progress looks like. It's a good lesson for us, and it's something we learn from and get better from. These are the moments, these are the opponents and this is the competition that we need to meet in order to be the best version of ourselves."

Having not played since beating the Cairns Taipans last Saturday night at the buzzer, the Kings were raring to go in Auckland on Sunday and came out hitting the game's first 10 points.

That included a three-point play to Justin Simon, three-pointer to Derrick Walton Jr and a couple of nice finishes from Xavier Cooks. It took three and-a-half minutes for a New Zealand field goal which came courtesy of Will McDowell-White.

A couple of triples and the 10 points from Cooks in the quarter saw Sydney remain in control leading 26-12 by quarter-time on the back of shooting 57 per cent from the floor opposed to 26 from the Breakers.

Sydney again pushed its advantage out further early in the second half with a layup to Kouat Noi before he also knocked down a three-pointer. When Shaun Bruce hit a triple just before half-time, the Kings led by 22 before the Breakers did at least finish the half with the last four points.

Again by half-time Sydney was going 52 per cent from the floor to New Zealand's 26 along with hitting 5/11 from deep to 2/10.

The Breakers couldn’t make any great inroads in the third quarter and the Kings answered every challenge including three-pointers from Jaylin Galloway and Noi to still be in charge 64-46 by three quarter-time.

New Zealand captain Tom Abercrombie marked his return with a three early in the fourth to bring his team back within 13. He added a second soon after in between Sydney buckets from Simon.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Back at Spark Arena doing what he does best. ? Thomas Abercrombie for 3?? <br><br>Watch live &amp; free ? 10 Peach &amp; 10play | Live on ESPN2 via Kayo &amp; Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/fSUoNgjf0W">pic.twitter.com/fSUoNgjf0W</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1589116569811963904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Izayah Le'afa then hit five quick points for New Zealand, and following free-throws from Dererk Pardon and Brown the margin was seven before a dagger triple from Bruce to steady Sydney to the 10-point advantage.

But free-throws have been Sydney's biggest struggle this season and that stopped them closing the door on the Breakers. With Simon missing four more down the stretch to go 1/9 for the game, the Breakers kept coming and finishes from Abercrombie and Brown made it a two-point game with 9.3 seconds to go.

However, Walton stepped up to make two clutch free-throws to enable the Kings to breathe a sigh of relief.

It's the last game now for both teams before the FIBA break. The Breakers will next take on the Tasmania JackJumpers in Launceston on Friday November 18 while the Kings don't play until two days later hosting the Illawarra Hawks.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 6

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 77 (Brown Jr 22, Le'afa 15, Pardon 11)

SYDNEY KINGS 81 (Cooks 13, Simon 13, Soares 11) 

BOX SCORE