Sydney Kings stave off another NZ Breakers fightback for 88-81 NBL victory

At Spark Arena, Auckland: Sydney Kings 88 (Derrick Walton Jr 20, Xavier Cooks 18, Justin Simon 14, Tim Soares 11), NZ Breakers 81 (Izayah Le’afa 17, Will McDowell-White 16, Barry Brown Jr 15, Jarrell Brantley 12, Dererk Pardon 11). 1Q: 34-25; HT: 54-42; 3Q: 79-64.

It’s official. The road to the Australian NBL title still runs through Xavier Cooks and the Sydney Kings.

There had been some talk that Mody Maor had himself a genuine championship prospect this side of the Tasman as the New Zealand Breakers burst out of the blocks to win 11 of their first 14 games this season.

But the defending champion Kings on Thursday night at Spark fought off another late comeback to deliver a reality check for the Kiwi club as they rolled them for the second time on their home floor this season with a mostly polished offensive effort that underlined their status as warm title favourites.

With the victory, their sixth in seven road games this season, the Kings improve to 10-3, while the Breakers drop to 11-5 with a second home defeat on the bounce, and a lot to think about heading into a run of three straight games in Australia between December 16 and 26.

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It was another quality performance from the Kings, even if they did get a helping hand from a refereeing crew who only seemed inclined to call fouls at one end. The count was 21-8 against the Breakers, and it made for a tough night for Maor’s men.

They also had to stave off another late fightback from the Breakers, who like they did in their November 6 defeat at the same venue, roared back in the final term to get within touching distance after looking dead and buried.

Import point guard Derrick Walton Jr led the Kings with a powerful 21 points (7/12 FG, 4/6 3PT), while Xavier Cooks, the silky smooth 2.03-metre power forward with NBA pedigree, chipped in with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, to go with 11 boards, 4 assists and a pair of blocks to demonstrate why he’s most people’s league MVP favourite.

Justin Simon added 14 points for the victors, while Brazilian big man Tim Soares had11 points and 9 boards.

The Breakers, who battled back to make a game of it late, did it tough with Tom Abercrombie (illness) and Rob Loe (back) restricted to just 4 minutes between them. They were paced by their backcourt duo of Izayah Le’afa (17 points, including 5 of 6 from deep, and 4 steals) and Will McDowell-White (16 points, with a quartet of triples and a game-high 8 dimes).

They also got 15 points from Barry Brown Jr, who battled foul trouble, an inefficient 12 (on 5-of-17 shooting) from Jarrell Brantley and 11 from Dererk Pardon. Tom Vodanovich also had a solid game with 7 points and 8 rebounds.

The first two quarters painted a gloomy picture for the Breakers as the visitors had it all too easy at the offensive end, leading 34-25 after one (and shooting a sizzling 11 of 15 for the term) and by a dozen points (54-42) at the major break.

The Kings took just seven triples for the half (and made two), but didn’t need the deep hits as they made 19 of 27 shots from inside the arc and went into the break converting at a stellar 62% clip. Once again Cooks has his way off the bounce as he poured in 13 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Walton chipped in with 10 and fellow import Soares 9.

The Breakers got 10 first-half points out of Brantley and 9 out of Brown, but their previously stellar defence was off the mark and they were thumped 20-11 on the boards by the visitors. Thirteen first-quarter free-throws also kick-started the Kings.

Sydney remained in control at the three-quarter mark with a 79-64 lead, but the Breakers finally made some stops over the final period to close to within four (85-81) with 2 minutes left. A Walton triple then iced the game for the Kings.