NBL23 Finals: Sydney Kings one win away from back-to-back titles after big win over New Zealand Breakers
The Sydney Kings are on the brink of back-to-back titles but another lopsided foul count had their opponents the Breakers privately seething overnight.
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New Zealand had been privately seething at a lopsided foul count throughout the NBL playoffs.
But Breakers officials were hesitant to publicly criticise the refereeing, given the NBL’s hard line stance on fines for such actions.
But frustrations boiled over after a sixth straight playoff game where they lost the foul count and shot fewer free throws than their opponents in a 91-68 loss that left them on the brink of a grand final series defeat at the hands of reigning champion Sydney.
It first came from majority owner Matt Walsh, who tweeted “Maybe they’ll just foul our entire team out” and was then backed up by the club’s official Twitter account with “make it six playoff games in a row with more fouls and less free throws.”
Maybe they’ll just foul our entire team out.
— Matt Walsh (@mattyvincent44) March 10, 2023
Make it 6 playoff games in a row with more fouls and less free throws @NBLhttps://t.co/exo4lwiZyq
— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) March 10, 2023
Asked about the refereeing by News Corp, Walsh was measured in his response.
“Numbers are what they are. No further comment.”
“Six games, six times more fouls called, and six times we shot less free throws.”
Star import Jarrell Brantley fouled out in the first minute of the last quarter and key men Tom Abercrombie, Barry Brown Jr and Rob Loe (four fouls each) all had to contend with foul trouble down the stretch as the Breakers were whistled 26 times to Sydney’s 19.
So does New Zealand have a right to feel hard done by?
The Breakers averaged the equal-most fouls per game throughout the regular season at 20.3, according to Spatial Jam – a characteristic of their physical brand that has made a high foul count a trend.
That has skyrocketed to 24.11 across six playoff games but the Kings play a breakneck pace and attack the rim like a tsunami, which helped them draw the second-most fouls in the regular season at 21 per game.
At the other end, the Breakers drew the fourth fewest fouls at 18.3 and that is only slightly up to 18.8 in the playoffs. They’ve been to the line 32 less times than their opponents in the playoffs.
Abercrombie said the players had to take some blame.
“Refereeing is what it is, you can’t change it, you have to try to adjust to how the game’s being called,” Abercrombie said.
“I don’t think we adjusted and I don’t think we defended like we used to, like we do, and that probably affected the way they called the game.”
A deeper dive into the way the grand final has played out reveals the Kings’ pick n roll drops coverage – where the screener’s defender sags off to protect space – has been effective in discouraging the Breakers from putting themselves in a position to draw fouls.
It was a method coach Chase Buford and the Kings were criticised for after Will McDowell-White picked them apart with his precision in game one.
But the master coach has stuck to his guns, with key on-ball defenders, led by the incredible Justin Simon, engaging the Breakers’ ballhandlers earlier, hurrying the composed McDowell-White and others into their offence.
The Kings’ bigs in Tim Soares, Jordy Hunter and Xavier Cooks have done a great job of protecting the paint and staying in front of ballhandlers when they come off screens and rollers when they receive the ball. It’s made NZ players hesitant to go to the basket – and tougher for them to finish at a high percentage when they do.
Instead, the Breakers have, too often, settled for threes and floaters in the lane – neither of which are conducive to drawing fouls – rather than going hard at the rim.
The Breakers shot 28.4 threes per game in the regular season – middle of the pack – but, against the Kings, they’ve exceeded that in all three games – 29 in the win and then 35 and 33 in the two losses.
The Breakers struggled to contain emotions in game three as the Kings locked in defensively and the fouls mounted. It led to an 0-18 stretch across the third and fourth quarters – more than 10 minutes without a field goal – and resulted in a 21-point second half – the lowest ever in a grand final game.
Attacking the rim and keeping composure will be vital if NZ are to remain alive in front of a record crowd at Spark Arena on Sunday.
The buoyant Kings, fresh off a history-making 18,049-strong Qudos Bank Arena Crowd, are now one win away from back-to-back NBL titles and head to New Zealand bursting with confidence.
One King who broke out in game three was big Tim Soares.
Pre-game, News Corp suggested Soares – and the Kings – might benefit if the Brazilian was moved to a sixth man role and the energised Jordy Hunter was inserted into the starting five in his place, a view shared by 400-game NBL legend Adam Gibson.
Soares was spurred, producing one of his best performances at both ends with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks, which prompted Buford to lash out and launch a passionate defence of his player.
“I saw a couple of idiots saying we should be calling for Tim to be benched that just would be the most-dumb over-reaction, that’s why they write articles and we coach,” Buford said.
“Tim’s been hurt for a week, he sprained his ankle the last play of the last practice before game one and it was just a big bummer.
“Everyone wants to crucify him, he’s out there playing one wheel last week and a little bit healthier tonight and you see how good he was, not only offensively but protecting the rim.”
Hunter changed the game in the series opener with 15 points and tore down 11 boards in game two. The 26-year-old has a team option for next year, which the Kings are certain to execute, given his grand final showcase.
Game four is on Sunday, 4pm, at Spark Arena. Watch on Kayo Sports.
KINGS ONE WIN AWAY FROM BACK-TO-BACK TITLES
– Matt Logue
The Sydney Kings are one win away from back-to-back NBL championships after a commanding 91-68 victory over the New Zealand Breakers in front of the biggest attendance in NBL history.
A sold-out crowd of 18,049 packed Qudos to witness the Kings outlast the Breakers to take a decisive 2-1 series lead.
But Sydney aren’t preparing to lift the trophy just yet, declaring they’re expecting their “toughest” game of the season in Sunday’s Game 4 in Auckland.
Sydney coach Chase Buford expects the Breakers to respond in a bid to send the series to a deciding Game 5 next Wednesday.
Buford remembers the Kings struggling in the first half of the deciding Game 3 against the JackJumpers last season.
“Spirits are high, but we know the next game is always the hardest,” Buford said post-game.
“We found that out the hard way last season (against Tasmania).”
There is no questioning Sydney holds the psychological edge heading into Game 4.
The Kings put on a defensive masterclass – restricting the Breakers to 21 points in the second half.
The 21 points is the lowest scoring half by any team in grand final history (123 games played over 45 seasons).
Defensive beast – and series MVP favourite – Justin Simon continued his brilliant form for the Kings in a Game 3 masterclass.
Simon dominated again to drop 13 points while he added six assists.
Kings’ sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic produced his finest display in the grand final series.
Vasiljevic found his mojo to finish with 15 points.
Sydney big man Tim Soares proved to be the unsung hero for the Kings.
Soares defied talk of him being benched pre-game to score 14 points and add six rebounds.
In the end, though, Sydney’s win was largely due to gun duo Derrick Walton Jr and Xavier Cooks overcoming injury concerns to star.
Walton Jr was magnificent for the Kings as he stuffed the stat sheet to finish with 12 points, six rebounds and a whopping nine assists.
He also drew a key offensive foul late in the third quarter.
Cooks had 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists – fresh off signing a two-year NBA deal with the Washington Wizards this week.
You knew the NBL MVP was set for a decent game when, two minutes in, he exploded to the rim with a trademark dunk.
William McDowell-White was New Zealand’s best player with 11 points and six rebounds while Jarrell Brantley and Barry Brown Jr had 10 points each.
Brantley fouled out just minutes into the fourth quarter.
Sydney’s victory is crucial when you consider history.
Under the best of five series format, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the championship on 11 of the 12 occasions.
The only exception came in the first best of five series in 2004 when the Kings won games four and five after losing game three against cross-town rivals the West Sydney Razorbacks.
Sydney have come a long way since 2004, as the bumper 18,000-plus attendance at Qudos Bank Arena showed.
The previous biggest NBL crowd was in 2019, when 17,514 fans also attended Qudos to watch NBA star LaMelo Ball play for the Illawarra Hawks against the Kings.
Friday’s all-time record attendance is also the third largest crowd in Australian basketball history – only behind two exhibition games against Team USA at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium in 2019.
Sydney fed off the energy from the record crowd in the opening exchanges to force multiple turnovers on the Breakers.
Simon continued his series MVP-calibre form for the Kings with early points, assists and doglike defence.
The Breakers stayed in the contest thanks to three-point bombs from Tom Abercrombie and Izayah Le’Afa.
This paved the way for the New Zealanders to take a slender 24-22 lead to quarter time.
New Zealand’s three-point party continued in the second quarter.
Big man Rob Loe dropped an early dagger from range.
Loe’s bomb inspired the New Zealanders to open up a four-point lead midway through the quarter.
Sydney refused to surrender, but had their hearts broken late in the second when Brown Jr knocked down consecutive threes to give the Breakers a 47-43 halftime advantage.
New Zealand exploded out of the blocks in the third quarter to surge to a 52-43 lead before Sydney responded – again.
Both teams traded blows before the Kings took over to head to the final frame with a comfortable eight-point lead.
Kings overcome terrible turnovers
The Kings killed themselves with 12 turnovers to the Breakers’ six in the first half.
This sloppy play allowed the New Zealanders to score an extra 13 points from turnovers – which proved decisive on the scoreboard.
Thankfully for the massive crowd, the Kings cleaned up their act in the second half.
Sydney had no turnovers in the third quarter while the Breakers had four – paving the way for the defending champions to take control of the game.
The Kings piled on the points while the New Zealanders went scoreless for a 10-minute period that started at the 5.13 mark in the third and extended into the fourth, which ultimately decided the game.
Originally published as NBL23 Finals: Sydney Kings one win away from back-to-back titles after big win over New Zealand Breakers
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