Breakers oust Kings as PJC dominates

The New Zealand Breakers have fought through the absence of an All-First NBL Team member, some injury-ravaged bodies and on the back of the brilliance of Parker Jackson-Cartwright, dominated the Sydney Kings in the second half to win the Play-In Qualifier 83-76.

It was a Championship Series rematch between the two teams at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday night with the seasons of the Kings and Breakers going on the line in the Play-In Qualifier.

The Kings earned the right to host the contest with a 55-point final round win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix and were fresh and raring to go compared with a Breakers team who has continued to have plenty to overcome.

It was a brave Will McDowell-White who shook off a shoulder he dislocated only a week and-a-half ago for the second time this season to not only play, but to start and be out there for 25 minutes with 11 points and five assists for the Breakers.

His back court partnership with star guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright was instrumental in New Zealand dominating the second half as they came back from trailing by as much as 13 points to outscore Sydney 45 points to 29 in the second half.

Jackson-Cartwright, fresh off being named in the All-First Team, was a man possessed on his way to 34 points, six assists and five rebounds on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor, 4-of-7 from downtown and 8-of-11 from the line.

His performance was instrumental in New Zealand setting up a Play-In battle with the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Monday night. The winner will go on to face Melbourne United.

The Breakers were thrown more hurdles during the game including import forward Zylan Cheatham injuring an ankle in the second quarter. Despite being hobbled, he came back to contribute strongly in the second half for 18 points, four rebounds and three steals.

New Zealand Next Star Mantas Rubstavicius also picked up both a second unsportsmanlike foul and his fifth foul overall midway through the third quarter ending his night after just 18 minutes but he fought through the physicality to contribute five points and four assists.

The game turned in the second half once the Breakers upped their full-court defensive pressure. 

Sydney's lackadaisical nature for a lot of the season has been somewhat of a frustration from onlookers and fans alike, but it came to the fore in the second half with New Zealand taking full advantage.

Led by Izayah Le'afa who had three steals, the Breakers forced the Kings into 19 turnovers from which they scored 15 points.

There were two instances in the fourth quarter with the game up for grabs, and Sydney's season on the line, where Le'afa's pressure forced the Kings former MVP Jaylen Adams into a poor turnover. The last of which on the inbounds pass all but sealed New Zealand's win.

The Kings will be left to do some serious soul-searching after imploding following a 7-3 start to the season. 

Despite that, Sydney still managed to finish in fifth position to earn home court advantage for this match up, and were on top most of the first half.

However, once the Breakers upped the ante, the Kings had no answer and it was a frustrating way for their three-peat quest to end on their home floor.

Adams did still top-score for the Kings with 18 points but had seven of the 19 turnovers for his team.

DJ Hogg added 17 points with Kouat Noi adding 10 points and Next Star Alex Toohey nine to go with six rebounds.

Angus Glover, a starter for the Kings only a month ago, was overlooked for any game time.

HUNGRY JACKS NBL PLAY-IN QUALIFIER

SYDNEY KINGS 76 (Adams 18, Hogg 17, Hunter 10, Noi 10) 

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS  83 (Jackson-Cartwright 34, Cheatham 18, McDowell-White 13) 

BOX SCORE