{"id":16966,"date":"2023-03-03T11:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T11:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/new-zealand-breakers-take-1-0-lead-in-championship-series-after-stunning-the-kings-in-sydney\/"},"modified":"2023-03-03T11:42:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T11:42:00","slug":"new-zealand-breakers-take-1-0-lead-in-championship-series-after-stunning-the-kings-in-sydney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/new-zealand-breakers-take-1-0-lead-in-championship-series-after-stunning-the-kings-in-sydney\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Breakers take 1-0 lead in Championship Series after stunning the Kings in Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Sydney Kings\u2019 championship defence is on shaky ground after the New Zealand Breakers \u2013 the NBL\u2019s road warriors \u2013 produced a defensive masterclass to edge out the Kings 95-87 in a Game 1 boilover.<\/p>\n

The Breakers head home to Auckland on Sunday with a 1-0 series lead following a dominant display to defeat the defending champions on their home court.<\/p>\n

Rising Boomers guard William McDowell-White and forward Jarrell Brantley excelled to help the New Zealanders claim early Trans-Tasman bragging rights.<\/p>\n

Watch the NBL23 Championship Series between Sydney Kings v New Zealand Breakers LIVE and FREE on ESPN on Kayo Freebies. Series begins March 3. Join now and start streaming instantly<\/a> ><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

McDowell-White dropped a near triple-double to finish with a game-high 19 points while he added nine rebounds and nine assists.<\/p>\n

Brantley was also immense for the Breakers \u2013 dropping 16 points and adding seven rebounds. <\/p>\n

The eight-point triumph strengthened the Breakers\u2019 road record for NBL23 to 12-3 \u2013 which places the men from NZ in a formidable position in the series. <\/p>\n

Sydney had no answers for the Breakers\u2019 potent offence, but the Kiwis\u2019 No.1 league ranked defence stole the show.<\/p>\n

The New Zealanders restricted Sydney star forward and NBL MVP Xavier Cooks to just eight points, including just four at halftime.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
Derrick Walton Jr. (R) left the game with a leg injury. Picture: Matt King\/Getty Images<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of greater concern for the Kings, Cooks looked to be hampered after copping a knock to the leg early in the game.<\/p>\n

In a further concern for Sydney, guard Derrick Walton Jr left the game late in proceedings with a leg injury.<\/p>\n

Guard Justin Simon was Sydney\u2019s best and a beast at both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n

In defence, Simon harassed the Breakers like a seagull chasing a chip while his energy on the offensive end was infectious.<\/p>\n

The former Illawarra Hawk had 13 points and five rebounds at halftime, but he needed more help from his teammates. <\/p>\n

How the key match-ups fared:<\/p>\n

Xavier Cooks v Jarrell Brantley<\/b><\/p>\n

In somewhat of a boilover given Cooks in the NBL\u2019s MVP, Brantley won this one-on-one battle in a knockout.<\/p>\n

The Breakers big man was aggressive from the onset \u2013 but his ability to knock down the three ball on three occasions \u2013 proved to be his secret weapon.<\/p>\n

Brantley had 10 points in the first half while Cooks wasn\u2019t his usual self, dropping just four.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
Cooks struggled to spark the Kings and couldn\u2019t get going. Picture: Matt King\/Getty Images<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Kings star preserved in the second half, but it just wasn\u2019t his night.<\/p>\n

Cooks finished with eight points \u2013 while Brantley excelled in a memorable display. <\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>: Brantley<\/p>\n

Derrick Walton Jr v William McDowell-White<\/b><\/p>\n

McDowell-White was simply sensational. The rising Australian Boomers guard produced one of the finest grand final performances.<\/p>\n

McDowell-White had 12 points and six rebounds at the break.<\/p>\n

He dominated proceedings with his pinpoint teardrop to have the bumper crowd at Qudos Bank Arena on its feet in appreciation.<\/p>\n

In a major blow for the Kings, Walton Jr limped off with a leg injury with four minutes remaining in the match to place him in doubt for Game 2 in Auckland on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>: McDowell-White<\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
McDowell-White was one of the more dominant players for the Breakers. Picture: Matt King\/Getty Images<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dejan Vasiljevic v Barry Brown Jr<\/b><\/p>\n

The New Zealand Breakers are Dejan Vasiljevic\u2019s bogey team \u2013 but DJ did his best to defy the trend on Friday night.<\/p>\n

DJ averages double-digit scoring against every team in the NBL this season \u2013 except the Breakers. His 8.7ppg comes on just 32 per cent shooting from the field and 28.6 per cent from deep.<\/p>\n

Vasiljevic attempted to aggressively attack the game in the opening quarter, with four quick points from determined drives to the basket.<\/p>\n

But the Boomers World Cup aspirant soon turned cold.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
Vasiljevic couldn\u2019t quite get going in Game 1. Picture: Matt King\/Getty Images<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vasiljevic failed to score in the second quarter while he gave up a sloppy three-point play to Breakers French Next Star Rayan Rupert.<\/p>\n

DJ found his offensive groove in the third quarter with seven points, including a timely three in the final seconds to ensure the Kings trialled by just six points heading into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Vasiljevic finished with 11 points, although he also added an unsportsmanlike foul in a mixed night for the sharpshooter.<\/p>\n

For New Zealand, Brown started the game off the bench in a surprise pre-game move for the Breakers.<\/p>\n

He had six points in the first half before finishing the game with a game-high equalling 19 points, including a host of clutch buckets down the stretch. <\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>: Brown<\/p>\n

Tim Soares v Dererk Pardon<\/b><\/p>\n

Dererk Pardon slightly edged out Tim Soares in the battle of the big men.<\/p>\n

Pardon had six points in the first half, but zero rebounds.<\/p>\n

Soares only had two points in the opening half, and despite improving his play in the second half, he was outpointed in the physicality stakes. <\/p>\n

The Kings will need more from Soares moving forward to have any chance of winning the championship series.<\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>: Pardon<\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
Pardon (L) got the better of his match-up with Tim Soares. Picture: Jenny Evans\/Getty Images<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Biggest adjustment for Game 2:<\/b><\/p>\n

Breakers<\/b>: More of the same. If the Breakers can maintain the rain on the offensive end, then they possess the league\u2018s best defence to dominate again.<\/p>\n

The New Zealanders will find another gear playing at Spark Arena in front of their faithful fans, but will they handle the grand final pressure?<\/p>\n

Kings<\/b>: Sydney must sharpen up on both ends of the floor. The NBL\u2019s best offensive team failed to fire while they couldn\u2019t contain the Breakers\u2019 offensive fire. The Kings also need a fast start in New Zealand, otherwise they could be facing a 2-0 series deficit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sydney Kings\u2019 championship defence is on shaky ground after the New Zealand Breakers \u2013 the NBL\u2019s road warriors \u2013 produced a defensive masterclass to edge out the Kings 95-87 in a Game 1 boilover. The Breakers head home to Auckland on Sunday with a 1-0 series lead following a dominant display to defeat the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[83,1736,7123,1578,7135,7128,7141,6026,7139,7130,7115,1664,7116,3493,7120,7121,7118,7132,7133,1425,1546,7117,7140,7143,2899,4669,7142,1609,7114,3151,4705,7122,1626,167,1728,1622,7138,7129,7126,7136,4878,6296,7134,7124,7119,7127,1019,1603,7125,7137,7131],"class_list":{"0":"post-16966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","11":"tag-barry-brown","13":"tag-brown","14":"tag-championship-defence","15":"tag-championship-series","16":"tag-clutch-buckets","17":"tag-cooks-v","18":"tag-defensive-masterclass","19":"tag-derrick-walton","20":"tag-dj","21":"tag-dominant-display","22":"tag-dominant-players","23":"tag-eight-point-triumph","24":"tag-faithful-fans","25":"tag-finest-grand-final","26":"tag-french-next-star-rayan-rupert","27":"tag-getty-images-inc","28":"tag-grand-final","29":"tag-grand-final-performances","30":"tag-grand-final-pressure","31":"tag-guard-justin-simon","32":"tag-head-home","33":"tag-home-court","34":"tag-jenny-evans","35":"tag-leagues","36":"tag-leg-injury","37":"tag-matt-king","38":"tag-matt-logue","39":"tag-multiple-injuries","40":"tag-new-south-wales","41":"tag-new-zealand","42":"tag-oceania","43":"tag-offensive-end","44":"tag-offensive-fire","45":"tag-offensive-groove","46":"tag-offensive-team","47":"tag-physicality-stakes","48":"tag-points-heading","49":"tag-qudos-bank-arena","50":"tag-road-warriors","51":"tag-secret-weapon","52":"tag-series-deficit","53":"tag-stun-premiers","54":"tag-sydney","55":"tag-tim-soares","56":"tag-v-william","57":"tag-william-mcdowell","58":"tag-william-mcdowell-white"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}