Kings seek to regain crown

AFTER stumbling on the road, NBL leaders Sydney Kings will be out to regain their swagger with a run of five straight games in NSW starting tonight.

Runaway ladder leaders not so long ago, the Kings are now looking over their shoulder after suffering their third loss in four games in an upset-riddled round 12 — Saturday night’s shock 87-80 defeat in Brisbane.

But Sydney will be hoping there is no place like home as it attempts to regain its Midas touch against fifth-placed South East Melbourne Phoenix tonight.

It kickstarts a dream draw of five consecutive games in NSW over the next three weeks for the Kings, including four home matches and a New Year’s Eve showdown against dead last Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong. After a stunning 11-1 season start, Sydney looked almost certain to lock up a finals spot by Christmas.

However, the Kings (12-4) are now barely clinging to their ladder lead ahead of secondplaced Perth (12-6) who they host on Saturday night.

Defending champion Perth could have snatched top spot; however, it was upstaged at home by third-placed Melbourne United 87-74 on Saturday night.

But it seems Sydney has more homework to do before its blockbuster against the Wildcats after being upset by the seventh-placed Bullets (7-9). Will Magnay (23 points) helped Brisbane snap a ninegame losing streak against the Kings, who were let down by woeful shooting.

Sydney let a 12-point second quarter lead slip after shooting 27 of 67 from the field including just eight of 36 from outside the arc.

“If one bad shot starts to affect our energy, we need to do a better job in not letting it,” Kings coach Will Weaver said.

“We will find that balance. We have got a group of guys who are way more experienced, smarter and tougher than I am and we will all start working on that puzzle right away.”

Phoenix is also looking to bounce back after kickstarting the round of boilovers with a 90-84 loss to second last New Zealand in Christchurch on Friday night.

Breakers import Scotty Hopson (24 points) stepped up in the absence of Corey Webster who was released midweek to take up a lucrative deal in China.

Hopson backed up to hit 21 points in the Breakers’ 91-89 win over the Hawks in Wollongong yesterday.