Breakers Slip in Sydney

Corey Webster delivered his best performance of the season for 25 points on 10/18 shooting and New Zealand was up five with 6:30 remaining after a Rasmus Bach three ball but somehow the Sky Sport Breakers been overrun 84-74 by the Kings in Sydney.

But Kings coach Adam Forde called a timeout and from that moment, Casper Ware and his two new running mates Jarell Martin and DJ Vasiljevic took their team on a stunning run scoring 19 of the game's next 21 points.

That turned a five-point deficit into a 13-point advantage before Lamar Patterson closed the game with a three for the Breakers to end a frustrating night.

Ultimately, Corey Webster just didn’t get enough help despite his standout performance.

Younger brother Tai Webster had a tough night with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while Lamar Patterson had just six points, six boards and three assists. The pair combined to shoot 5/24 from the field.

Finn Delany had 12 points and eight rebounds but the story will be New Zealand scoring just two points in a six-minute stretch where Sydney took the game away.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir wasn’t hiding from the fact he didn’t think his team's performance was good enough.

"We are struggling and it's another tough night. Obviously we were in the game and were up five with six minutes left but overall as a group we are struggling with a lot of simple actions," Shamir said.

"I think we played in control in a lot of areas and to a certain extent together, but it's not enough to win. We are much better than that and at the offensive end, it's very obvious that we must be much better. 

"We aren’t going to win many games with basically 71 points. It's something we also need to solve in our own heads. We can and should play much better." 

It was a feeling out process during the opening term and it was fitting scores were tied at 18-all by quarter-time before DJ Vasiljevic sparked the Kings with two quick threes. 

Corey Webster responded with eight quick points for the Breakers but again things stayed tight and by half-time the scores remained locked at 38-apiece.

Vasiljevic hit another triple to open the second half but New Zealand fired back with three balls of their own from Finn Delany and Tai Webster while Corey Webster continued to score at will with his driving to the hoop proving unstoppable.

But the Kings got into the bonus and lived at the foul line the rest of the third term to turn into the fourth leading by three.

The Breakers turned things around quickly though. They scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter with threes to Tai Webster and Rasmus Bach, and another Corey Webster tough make.

That had them up five with 6:30 left but out of a timeout, the Kings dominated. Corey Webster made one more basket but the Breakers wouldn’t score again aside from Patterson's buzzer-beater.

In between, Ware took over the game and whether he was earning a couple of trips to the foul line, knocking down big shots or setting up Martin and Vasiljevic, he was the star of the show.

Martin and Vasiljevic were along for the ride as was Shaun Bruce who showed how crucial he is for the Kings and it was Sydney who marked their homecoming going on that 19-2 run to win by 10.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 5

SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Ware 22, Martin 20, Vasiljevic 17)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 74 (C Webster 25, T Webster 13, Delany 12) 

BOX SCORE