Kings Take 2-1 Lead in Front of Record NBL Crowd

The longer the game went the more the Sydney Kings worked on top and eventually in front of a record NBL crowd at Qudos Bank Arena overpowered the New Zealand Breakers to win 91-68 and take a 2-1 lead in the Championship Series.

There were patches in each of the first three quarters on Friday night in Game 3 of the Championship Series where the Breakers were looking likely to open up a sizeable lead on the Kings to continue the trend of road teams winning when these two outfits meet.

New Zealand were leading by nine points early in the second half having gone on a 16-3 run either side of half-time and the record crowd of 18,049 was getting restless.

The Kings responded in remarkable fashion, though, and for a patch in the second half kept the Breakers from scoring a field goal for 12 minutes of game time. 

In that stretch, Sydney outscored New Zealand 27 points to four to go from two points down to leading by 21, and winning by 23 to send that huge crowd home happy as they took a 2-1 lead.

The Kings need just one more win to be back-to-back champions with Game 4 in Auckland on Sunday.

Having 12 turnovers in the first half meant Sydney couldn’t take advantage of shooting 55 per cent from the field, but had just one turnover in the second half and took over the contest the longer it went.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The drive, the block, the slam ?<br><br>Championship hoops is heating up ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies | Sky Sports and Prime in NZ. <a href="https://t.co/N0ObN1RR8u">pic.twitter.com/N0ObN1RR8u</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1634131627893989377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Xavier Cooks (10 points, eight rebounds) and Derrick Walton Jr (12 points, nine assists, six rebounds) both shook off injury concerns to contribute strongly for the Kings, but once again it was their depth on show.

Tim Soares had his standout performance of the series with 14 points and six rebounds to be the best big man in the game while DJ Vasiljevic put up 15 points, Justin Simon 13 points and six assists, Angus Glover 11 points, and Jaylin Galloway nine points.

Kings coach Chase Buford was delighted with the performance but knows the challenge still ahead to secure the championship on Sunday.

"Obviously the spirits are high but we know that the next game is always the hardest," Buford said.

"We found that out last year and they are going to be playing with everything they've got, like there's no tomorrow. 

"We're going to have to meet them with the same intensity so as good as tonight was, we'll have to enjoy it and move on, and get ready to go play our toughest game of the season for sure on Sunday."

The problems mounted for the Breakers the longer the game went including battling foul trouble and then the 12-minute field goal drought.

Will McDowell-White top-scored with 11 points and six rebounds with Jarrell Brantley contributing 10 points, four boards, three steals and two assists before fouling out with nine minutes to play.

Barry Brown Jr finished with 10 points, three assists and two steals, Rayan Rupert 10 points and three rebounds, and Izayah Le'afa eight points, six boards and three assists.

Breakers coach Mody Maor just felt his team lost their way on the offensive end early in the second half and eventually that crept into their defence too.

"Obviously it was a very bad second half from us. It started on the offensive end and trickled down to how we defended," Maor said.

"It started with us missing a few good looks in the beginning of the third and we became tight again, and completely not executing from there.

"If you're in this moment in the Grand Finals, then you better be the kinda guy who enjoys playing in front of this kind of crowd, and enjoys playing in this kind of environment. If you don't, then this is not for you."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Barry Brown Jr ended that half on fire ???<br><br>Catch the second half live on ESPN via Kay Freebies | Sky Sports and Prime in NZ. <a href="https://t.co/vh6On6L28Q">pic.twitter.com/vh6On6L28Q</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1634124710371024896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Will McDowell-White opened the scoring to Game 3 but the Kings responded with the next six points before Jarrell Brantley hit a three to steady the Breakers. 

It was Tim Soares with the hot start for Sydney and when he knocked down a three ball, he already had seven points and he started another 7-0 run for his team as they went up 17-13.

Rayan Rupert hit the floor for New Zealand to flip the momentum again with his quick five points and a triple from Rob Loe helped the Breakers lead 24-22 by quarter-time despite the Kings shooting 57 per cent from the floor.

New Zealand opened the second quarter on fire with the first five points including another three ball from Loe to stretch the lead to seven, but Sydney answered with long balls to DJ Vasiljevic and Jaylin Galloway.

It was virtually bucket for bucket from there until the Breakers pulled away heading towards half-time starting with a three-pointer from Brantley. Barry Brown Jr then hit consecutive shots from beyond the arc and that helped the Breakers lead 47-43 at the break.

New Zealand had forced Sydney into 12 first half turnovers for 13 points off those which is why the home team couldn’t capitalise on still shooting 55 per cent. The Breakers themselves were going at 50 per cent and 8/18 from three-point range.

The Breakers once more opened up the second half impressively with the opening five points with a triple from McDowell-White and bucket inside to Pardon to see their lead grow to nine points.

Sydney responded starting with a three ball from Vasiljevic but New Zealand did cling to a two-point lead thanks to a field goal to McDowell-White with 5:15 to go in the third period.

However, the Breakers would not score another field goal over the next 12 minutes of playing time and only managed four points in that stretch with the Kings taking over the game stamping their authority.

The Kings scored 12 of the last 14 points of the third quarter including a dazzling pass from Cooks to Galloway on three quarter-time to give them a 67-59 edge.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SHOWTIME AT QUDOS BANK ARENA ???<br><br>Catch the final quarter live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies | Sky Sports and Prime in NZ. <a href="https://t.co/gKBqJhvRhV">pic.twitter.com/gKBqJhvRhV</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1634138748156870656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Kings blew the game further from the Breakers reach with the opening eight points of the fourth quarter with Brantley fouling out for New Zealand another cruel blow for the visitors.

Eventually it was Rupert who broke the field goal drought for the Breakers with a three ball with 3:40 to go, but it was all too late and it was party time for the Kings to celebrate a 23-point win in front of the biggest ever crowd to witness an NBL game.

Game 4 will now be on Sunday afternoon in Auckland with the Breakers needing to beat the Kings to force the Game 5 back in Sydney on Wednesday with a record Spark Arena crowd expected.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS – CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES GAME 3

SYDNEY KINGS 91 (Vasiljevic 15, Soares 14, Simon 13)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 68 (McDowell-White 11, Brantley 10, Brown Jr 10, Rupert 10) 

Sydney Kings lead best-of-five series 2-1

BOX SCORE