Breakers show huge heart for Sydney win

There were no troops back, but the energy efforts rose through the roof for the New Zealand Breakers as they willed their way to a spirited 93-89 Sunday afternoon victory on the road to the Sydney Kings.

It appeared that the gruelling travel schedule of the Breakers over the past six weeks that included a trip to the United States had saw them hit the wall on Thursday night in Christchurch.

Not only were New Zealand missing Max Darling (groin), Mitch McCarron (knee), Mojave King (quad) and Dane Pineau (calf), but the players out there looked out on their feet.

The result was a 26-point loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix and coach Petteri Koponen said that despite any excuses they could use, their effort still had to be better.

It was a similar story for the Kings in Perth on Friday night in the loss to the Wildcats so Sunday at Qudos Bank Arena was going to be all about who responded better, and it was the Breakers who dug deep to impressively win by four points and improve their season to 4-2.

The defeat was the second straight for star-studded Sydney and leaves them sinking down the NBL ladder from third spot at 5-5.

Looking to bounce back from their shock loss to an undermanned Perth outfit, the Kings got off to a strong start and led by as much as 12 during the second quarter.

However, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and shooting guard Matt Mooney hauled the visitors into the lead, taking advantage of some clunky play by the Kings at both ends of the court.

The brilliant Californian finished with 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds with 3/6 three-point shooting while fellow American Mooney tipped in 24 on 4/9 from deep to go with five assists and three steals.

There were plenty more contributors too with Next Star Karim Lopez delivering 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jonah Bolden 11 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals against his former team, and Freddie Gillespie 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

New Zealand coach Petteri Kopenen lauded the grit of his team.

"I'm very proud of these guys as last month has been crazy, all over the place travelling, but they showed character today," the Finnish coach said.

"The guys grinded out, Matt Mooney and Parker, I had to just try to manage the minutes somehow.

"They both played 38 and 35 minutes and they were running on last fumes in the end, but they brought us home."

New Zealand turned a 25-18 deficit into a 49-45 lead by half-time thanks to two late buckets by Jackson-Cartwright.

The Breakers still managed to hang on to a three-point lead, 72-69, heading into the final term.

Despite their shooting woes, at just 39 per cent from the floor, the Kings remained in touch thanks to their New Zealand international Izayah Le'afa, who finished with 23 points.

No other Sydney player scored in double-figures and once again they were outrebounded, and outworked.

But with foul trouble not helping their cause, they were unable to close the margin, with the Breakers back in the winners' circle.

Kings coach Brian Goorjian said he could see his team was fatigued, playing 24 hours after their arrival back from Perth.

He felt that factor and the contributions of Parker-Cartwright and Mooney made the difference, while the Kings continue to miss former MVP Jaylen Adams.

"Our group's really hurting - I know they wanted this one bad," Goorjian said.

"We built that 12 point lead and gave it away in about a minute and then it was really, really difficult from that point on."

The Breakers now have until Saturday before playing the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday at Spark Arena with the Kings needing a bounce back on Thursday away to Melbourne United.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

SYDNEY KINGS 89 (Le'afa 23, Cooks 9, Oliver 9, Kuol 9)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 93 (Mooney 24, Jackson-Cartwright 21, Lopez 13)

BOX SCORE