Sydney produced one its most courageous performances of the season as they added another low point to Melbourne United’s horror run.
Down two starters, the Kings lost Matthew Dellavedova to a suspected concussion for the entire second half.
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Still, Sydney managed to keep their southern rivals at arm’s length for much of the contest, including a six-point buffer heading into the fourth.
The visitors quickly got back within two inside a minute, before Kendric Davis helped re-establish a handy advantage.
Chris Goulding got hot from long range, and after a calamitous shot clock violation, had one last shot to force overtime.
He missed the tough attempt as the Kings held on for a thrilling 97-94 victory in front of 12,634 at Qudos Bank Arena to leapfrog United into third place.
Davis overcame a sluggish 0-5 start to show why he is deep in the MVP race, pulling out some flashy assists and taking over when it counted.
He finished with 23 points and six assists, while Jaylin Galloway was near flawless with a game-high 27 points (10-11 FG).
Jesse Edwards led United with 23 points (11-13 FG), with Goulding finding his touch with 21 (5-11 3P).
Injury crisis
Already without Xavier Cooks and Bul Kuol coming into the contest, Sydney could have another player on the sidelines with Dellavedova leaving the game in the second quarter.
With 11 points to his name, the star King was looking to add to that tally when Dash Daniels fell on top of him after losing his feet.
Dellavedova was forced to the locker rooms after his head hit the floor and wasn’t sighted for the rest of the night.
It puts him in doubt for Friday’s clash with Brisbane at HoopsFest.
Boomer battle
It’s no secret that Matthew Dellavedova and Chris Goulding are in the mix for Boomers spots when the World Cup rolls around next year.
It’s what made their battle all the more exciting, with the two veterans coming out all guns blazing.
Dellavedova threw down the gauntlet early with a pair of triples, before Goudling went back-to-back with two long bombs of his own.
Another with his eyes on a trip to Qatar is Jaylin Galloway, and he threw his hat in the ring with 11 first quarter points, including a buzzer-beating three to lift the Kings to a 26-23 quarter-time advantage.
Edwards declares war
The Qudos Bank Arena rims are hoping Jesse Edwards doesn’t return anytime soon.
The Melbourne big man was dominant inside the paint as he led all scorers at halftime with 16 (8-10 FG), including a couple of monster dunks that threatened to shatter the backboard.
One of his only missteps in the first half was a missed lob over the top of Tim Soares inside three minutes that left the Brazilian lying on the floor.
Despite his strong first half, United found themselves trailing by eight at the main break.
Wildcats beat Phoenix for 3rd straight | 01:05
HAWKS COACH WON’T GIVE UP ON TITLE DEFENCE
Illawarra Hawks coach Justin Tatum refused to concede his team’s NBL title defence was over despite a 101-96 loss to New Zealand Breakers at WIN Entertainment Centre on Sunday that left their play-off hopes hanging by a thread.
After a 124-113 overtime loss to South East Melbourne on Thursday, Illawarra had to beat the Breakers to remain in legitimate post-season discussion and maintain any realistic hopes of defending their championship.
Suffering a third straight defeat to the Breakers, after back-to-back blowouts in October, the Hawks have slumped to an 8-15 record to fall four wins behind sixth-placed Tasmania (12-13) with only 10 games to play.
It is a far cry from the team that finished the 2024-25 season in top spot with a 20-9 record, going on to an unforgettable come-from-behind 3-2 grand final series win against Melbourne United to secure only the second title in the foundation club’s history.
“Unless it statistically says it is, and … we’ve got to rely on a situation with other teams, but we’re going to keep playing these next 10 games as if we have a chance,” Tatum said.
“Guys will show up to work, my coaching staff, myself, we’ll keep preparing as if we have an ability to defend our title, so until it’s statistically all the way out, I’ll never say never.”
As has been the case too many times this season, the Hawks did not protect the ball well enough – they committed 19 turnovers – and were out-hustled by a hungrier opponent.
Humbled 103-62 by Sydney Kings in Auckland on Friday night, the Breakers were more desperate and Tatum acknowledged that was the difference.
The Breakers never trailed in the second half, having led 49-43 at half-time and 71-66 heading into the final term, but the Hawks pulled within a point on multiple occasions.
Trailing 95-94 with 15 seconds remaining, Illawarra had a chance to take the lead but a corner three by Wani Swaka Lo Buluk rimmed in and out and the Breakers hung on.
The Hawks had a chance to set up a three-point shot when trailing 99-96 with 7.1 seconds to go but Tyler Harvey was called for a back-court violation from the in-bound pass.
“We played well for a spurt or two then lack of detail, or attention on the back end, and we were unable to get a stop in the most important part of the game,” Tatum said.
“They just want it more, and it was unfortunate that my team doesn’t show the same resilience against anyone – not just New Zealand – but anyone who has a chance to find a way to beat us in certain areas.”
Tatum lamented another lopsided free-throw count, pointing out that the Hawks had not “won” that statistic at home since November 5 in a 107-93 victory over Melbourne United.
The Breakers went to the line twice as many times, making 21 of 28 free throws against nine of 14 by the Hawks, but Tatum did not use that as an excuse.
“You know how many home games we’ve had since then? Ten. And I have double bigs (JaVale McGee and Sam Froling) and guys attacking the free-throw line,” Tatum said.
“It’s unfortunate that we can’t seem to find a way to get the even, similar calls and things like that, so I felt proud of my guys for fighting through a lot of the adversity that they had to go through that other teams might be able to get here and there.
“It’s not an excuse to why we lost, because clearly, it was the turnovers and inconsistency of some of the guys’ play, but it’s tough to go back and watch the last time you led as a team at home in free throws, that last night was November 5th.
“I don’t think any team in the league can say that, besides us, so that’s how it goes.”
McGee was used sparingly in the first half and began the third quarter on the bench, eventually finishing with 11 points behind Illawarra’s leading scorer QJ Peterson (22) and Harvey, Davo Hickey and Dan Grida who had 14 each.
Bouncing back from the Kings rout, the Breakers are 9-15 but will almost certainly need to win all of their remaining nine games to have a shot at making the play-in round.
“Like I told the guys, we are not that bad a team like we showed last time against Sydney, and this was a great way to respond,” Breakers coach Petteri Koponen said.
“We were much better – the energy, the fight – everything was there.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but at least you want to see that competitiveness every time, and we came here to compete.”
Led by pocket rocket Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s 23 points, all five Breakers starters scored in double figures.