Breakers with dominant finish to overrun Kings

The Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers have won a second game in seven days in the NBL delivering a remarkable last five-minute turnaround with a stunning 18-1 to finish and beat the Sydney Kings 82-75 on Sunday.

Sydney got off to a fast start at Qudos Bank Arena as Round 7 continued in the NBL on Sunday. The Kings remained in control most of the way including holding a 10-point advantage after a three-point play from Xavier Cooks with just over five minutes to go.

However, from there it was all the Breakers with them scoring 18 of the game's last 19 points in a remarkable finish to turn a 10-point deficit into the seven-point victory that was their second win of the season on back-to-back Sunday afternoons.

A big overturned call following a coach's challenge for Dan Shamir with 22.4 seconds that kept possession for the Breakers proved pivotal, but ultimately it was the 22 points for the game from Jeremiah Martin, and late threes from Peyton Siva and Finn Delany that were match-winning.

On top of Martin's 22 points for New Zealand, Delany added 21 points and nine rebounds including hitting 5/10 from three-point range. 

Peyton Siva had 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals, Hugo Besson 12 points and six rebounds and Yanni Wetzell 10 points and six boards with Will McDowell-White struggling with a back injury and playing just 10 minutes.

Even Breakers coach Dan Shamir wasn’t quite sure how the turnaround came about, but he was understandably proud of his team.

"The honest answer is that I'm not sure but all of a sudden in the fourth quarter we had 30 points after really struggling early offensively," Shamir said. 

"You could see it on our guys' faces a little bit with the struggle and that's absolutely normal in our situation, but the big thing was that we dug in. A few shots started falling, we made a few big plays and got some offensive rebounds, got some big stops and pulled out a great win."

Searching for a first win since December 22, the Kings started strongly back on their home floor with DJ Vasiljevic enjoying the start to open up with a three-pointer.

Jarell Martin and Xavier Cooks then combined to put the home team on top 7-2 but it would be Jeremiah Martin who kept the Breakers close. He scored nine points on his own in the first term for New Zealand but still Sydney was on top by quarter-time leading 24-17.

Scoring from both teams really dried up in the second period with the game turning decidedly scrappy, but again it was Martin keeping New Zealand close with a three ball to go to 12 points to be the only player on either side to score in double-figures in the half.

Finn Delany also connected from beyond the arc for the Breakers but Sydney still led 34-30 by half-time despite just the 10 points in the quarter.

The Kings came out ready to make a statement to open the second half and went on an 8-0 streak to suddenly lead by double-figures with the Breakers looking to lack some energy with the game slipping away. 

However, a timeout from Dan Shamir helped to settle New Zealand and Delany and Peyton Siva soon knocked down three-pointers and suddenly it was just a two-point ball game once again.

The Kings' lead only got back out to five on three quarter-time thanks to a Shaun Bruce three on the buzzer but Delany cancelled that out when he hit a triple of his own to open the fourth period for the Breakers.

However, Sydney responded with a pair of three-point bombs from Vasiljevic and then with just over five minutes remaining with an and-one bucket to Cooks, the Kings remained in control leading 74-64.

But the game underwent a remarkable transformation the rest of the way starting with a couple of New Zealand baskets to Martin. Besson then nailed a triple, Siva did the same and all of a sudden with an 11-0 run, the Breakers led for the first time in the game.

Jaylen Adams tied scores up with two minutes left with a free-throw for Sydney, but that would be their only score in the final five minutes of the game. A couple of offensive rebounds saw Delany eventually hit the game-winning three for a memorable Breakers win.

The Breakers now return to Tasmania to play the JackJumpers in Hobart on Wednesday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 7

SKY SPORT BREAKERS 82 (Martin 22, Delany 21, Siva 17) 

SYDNEY KINGS 75 (Cooks 19, Vasiljevic 13, Martin 11)

BOX SCORE