Will McDowell-White of the Breakers in action against the Kings. Photo / Getty
Breakers 95
Kings 87
Advantage New Zealand Breakers.
In their first appearance in the NBL grand final since 2016, the Kiwi side stole game one of their best-of-five series against the Sydney Kings – winning 95-87 in Sydney.
A huge result in the context of the series as the Breakers now have the benefit of two games on their home court still to come – the first being on Sunday evening - essentially stealing home-court advantage for the playoffs.
Game one continued the trend of away teams winning when the Breakers and Kings meet, with all three of their regular season meetings being won by the away team.
For a team who consistently got off to slow starts through the regular season, there was no hesitation out of the gates for the Breakers in Sydney.
The offence was firing in all areas early, with point guard Will McDowell–White running the show expertly. It was the start the Breakers needed to have against the competition’s highest-scoring team, particularly given the Breakers’ league-best defence had proved effective against Sydney in their regular-season matches.
The offence started hot and didn’t cool off. Playing in their 32nd game of the season, this was just the third time the Breakers had scored 30 points in the opening 10 minutes, taking a seven-point lead into the break.
It was more of the same in the second period. The Breakers were making their shots from beyond the three-point line count and were successful in keeping league MVP Xavier Cooks out of the contest. Kings import Justin Simon played a big part in keeping the hosts within reach, but the Breakers looked comfortable with an 11-point lead at halftime.
The statistics told the story of the opening exchanges. The Breakers were successful on 48 per cent of their shot attempts in the first half, including six of their 13 three-point shots. The Kings shot the ball at 47 per cent, but only drained four of 11 from deep.
It’s not often a hot start stays with a team for the whole game, and the Breakers’ scoring fell away in the third quarter as the Kings edged back into the contest.
With import guard Derrick Walton Jr pulling the strings, the Kings began to find their rhythm on the offensive end; sending shots away and collecting defensive rebounds saw them slowly cut into the deficit as the Breakers at times struggled to get the scoreboard ticking over.
With two minutes to go in the third stanza, the Kings had drawn back within two points, before the Breakers made some timely baskets to hold a six-point lead heading into the final quarter.
It wasn’t long before Sydney had drawn back to within two points, but every time they closed the gap, the Breakers were able to score again to maintain a two-possession lead.
Things took a turn midway through the final period when Walton, who had been influential in the Sydney comeback, left the court with assistance after a non-contact injury to his left leg.
It was Breakers import Barry Brown Jr who stepped up for the visitors in their quest to steal game one on their opponent’s court. He scored 13 of the Breakers’ 19 points in the quarter, leading the side to a game-one win.
NZ Breakers 95 (Will McDowell-White 19 points, Barry Brown Jr 19, Jarrell Brantley 16)
Sydney Kings 87 (Justin Simon 18 points, Jordan Hunter 15, Derrick Walton Jr 12, Dejan Vasiljevic 11)
1Q: 30-23. HT: 54-43. 3Q: 76-70
The Tall Blacks beat Australia 106-97 in Hamilton on Sunday.