Milestone man Bruce 'proud' of Kings' response

After a tough result in their Hungry Jack's NBL26 home opener, the Sydney Kings needed a response in Round 3.

And a response is exactly what Brian Goorjian's side provided the 10,798 fans at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday when they defeated New Zealand by 18 points, ending a four-game skid for the Kings at the venue.

Afterwards, during the post-game press conference, Sydney's Shaun Bruce, who played his 350th NBL game, explained how he was proud of his group's response.

"The group, we're still building and scratching the surface [of how good we can be] but the way we responded after an ugly one in game one, says a lot about the group and I'm really proud of the boys for that one," Bruce said in the post-game press conference.

The fixture also saw the Horsham-born Bruce, who coach Brian Goorjian labelled a 'self-made man who's squeezed everything he can out himself', move to equal third on the Kings all-time games list (191) alongside Tim Morrissey and behind only Matthew Nielsen (244) and Damian Keogh (215).

"I played my first [NBL] game against the Kings at the [Sydney] Entertainment Centre a long time ago and I would have been happy with that," Bruce said.

"As a kid growing up, I dreamed of playing in the league and I still feel that way - it's a dream come true [to play in the NBL]."

Next up for the harbour city side, who are now 1-1, is their first-ever Ignite Cup game against the undefeated Melbourne United.

That fixture at Qudos Bank Arena tips off at 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.