Kings heap more pain on Breakers

For one of the few times this NBL season the Sydney Kings looked to be having fun out on the floor and with Jaylen Adams running the show and Xavier Cooks, Cam Oliver and Alex Toohey throwing them down, they hammered the New Zealand Breakers 98-83.

The Breakers were playing in front of their fans in Wellington at TSB Arena determined to try and bounce back from losses since the FIBA international window to Illawarra, Perth and Melbourne by an average of 25.3 points.

They did get Tacko Fall back who missed Thursday's 27-point loss in Christchurch to Melbourne United, but Sydney arrived on a mission even with Bul Kuol sidelined and several players under the weather.

Sydney scored the first nine points and even though Matt Mooney (19 points, three rebounds, three assists), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (21 points, eight boards, six assists) and Fall (nine points, eight rebounds in 13:24) had their moments for the Breakers, the Kings remained in control.

Whether it was massive dunks from Cooks and Toohey, alley-oop finishes from Oliver or Kouat Noi landing 5/10 from three-point range for 19 points, Sydney put in perhaps their most complete performance of NBL25 to improve to 9-7.

Cooks finished with 20 points and three assists, Adams 20 points and eight assists, Oliver 12 points and seven rebounds, and Keli Leaulepe nine points.

"We had both imports out for our practice sessions, so we've had that young Australian group working together for three or four days," Sydney coach Brian Goorjian said.

"There was just an energy and camaraderie about that. I thought that's how we started the game.

"The imports came in and they were excited about what the group looked like and where we were at."

The Breakers were well placed at 7-3 heading into the FIBA break but things have fallen off the cliff in four hefty losses since as they finished off shooting just 42 per cent from the field, 10/34 from three-point range and having 16 turnovers.

"Disappointed about the loss but I liked the effort today," Breakers coach Petteri Koponen said.

"I think we got better - we kept fighting and competing.

"We had too many turnovers, again, which I think was the big key for tonight's loss."

Coming off Thursday's hammering in Christchurch at the hands of Melbourne, it was the worst possible start for New Zealand with Sydney scoring the game's first nine points with eight of those from the front court of Xavier Cooks and Keli Leaupepe.

It took the Breakers two and-a-half minutes to score with Matt Mooney hitting a three ball but back-to-back dunks for Sydney from Cooks and Alex Toohey saw the visitors leading 13-3.

New Zealand's first seven points were scored by Mooney but his team managed just 14 points by quarter-time on 4/16 shooting with the Kings going into the break leading by 11 with seven players already scoring.

Mooney and Parker Jackson-Cartwright were doing their best to keep New Zealand in the contest with 22 points to half-time, but Sydney remained in control leading 52-40 with Cooks having 10 points, Leaupepe nine and Kouat Noi nine while Toohey had a career-best five offensive boards already.

Tacko Fall had a couple of encouraging moments to start the second half for the Breakers, but he soon picked up a fourth foul and the Kings started to have some fun.

By the time Jaylen Adams had a block up one end and then threw up an alley-up for a massive throwdown for Cam Oliver, the Kings were feeling good and leading by 19 when Noi landed his fourth triple of the night.

He made that five out of a timeout with Sydney's lead growing to 22 which became 24 thanks to a 13-0 run and they were in control at 77-54 by three quarter-time, and went on to score the 15-point victory.

The Breakers open up Round 12 on Thursday night back at Spark Arena against the Tasmania JackJumpers while the Kings don't play again until hosting the Brisbane Bullets next Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 83 (Jackson-Cartwright 21, Mooney 19, Mennenga 12)

SYDNEY KINGS 98 (Adams 20, Cooks 20, Noi 19)

BOX SCORE