Bogut gets away as Breakers go down

WELLINGTON: Andrew Bogut was relieved his Sydney Kings held their collective composure to see off the hardcharging New Zealand Breakers 7170 in Auckland yesterday.

Bogut unleashed his most imposing display in the NBL but said that was of secondary importance as the Kings ground out a second important win in the space of three days.

After a relatively subdued outing in the 7772 armwrestle against leaders Perth, Bogut was a dominant figure yesterday, recording 23 points and 16 rebounds.

The NBA championshipwinning centre had a doubledouble by halftime and then played his part as the visitors grimly defended a lead which had stretched out to 15 points after three quarters.

The thirdplaced Kings improved their record to 74 while the Breakers (48) are cemented in seventh after a fifthstraight loss — all against topthree teams.

A disastrous third quarter crippled the Breakers. The six points they scored was the secondlowest quarter return in their history.

They turned that around with 29 points in the final stanza as they mounted a torrid comeback.

A threepointer from captain Tom Abercrombie pulled them within a point inside the final minute.

Abercrombie put up a shot in the final play but it came just after the buzzer, and missed anyway.

‘‘It was a completely different fourth quarter. Give them credit, we knew that their season was on the line,’’ Bogut said.

‘‘They’re really trying to battle to get back into that [top] four so they gave us their best punch but thankfully we held on. A road win is a road win.’’

Sydney’s defensive hustle impressed but offensive support for Bogut was thin.

Jerome Randle had 14 points on sixof16 shooting while Kevin Lisch and Daniel Kickert both registered 10 points.

Former Kings guard Jarrad Weeks top scored for the Breakers with 19 points off the bench, including 12 in the final quarter, while Abercrombie tallied 18.

Weeks aside, the Breakers back court was icecold from the field, with Corey Webster, Shea Ili and Patrick Richard sinking one of 21 combined shots. — AAP

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Shawn Long, of the New Zealand Breakers, competes for the ball against Andrew Bogut, of the Sydney Kings, during the round eight ANBL match at Spark Arena in Auckland yesterday.