Breakers pip Sydney Kings in thriller with last second basket
The Breakers are on the board in the 2017-18 Australian NBL season after a buzzer-beater from DJ Newbill got them out of jail against the Sydney Kings.
The Kiwi outfit held a 13-point lead at halftime in Auckland and looked to be cruising early in the fourth quarter only for the Kings to storm back and tie the game with three seconds to go.
But Newbill refused to panic, the American import driving to the rim to seal a dramatic 87-85 victory.
It capped off a stellar display from the 25-year-old guard, who was aggressive throughout on the way to 22 points and seven rebounds.
He had plenty of help from Kirk Penney as the Breakers veteran shrugged off the stomach virus which kept him out of practice early in the week to score a game-high 25 points, while Shea Ili had a career-best 14 points, holding his nerve with three crunch free throws down the stretch.
It was Sydney’s second-straight loss to the start the season ahead of Sunday’s home match against the Hawks. But they don’t have to wait long for revenge as the teams do it all over again at Spark Arena on Thursday.
A technical glitch with the shot-clock saw play briefly interrupted early in the game.
And the Breakers’ offence also made a stuttering start, missing their first two field goals before Alex Pledger finally found the basket.
The Kings, on the other hand, were much sharper with the ball, particularly on the break while capitalising on any wide-open threes.
The home team actually did well to only trail by three at the end of the first quarter.
But it wasn’t long before they started to take control and it was down to Penney.
The former league MVP caught fire in the second, draining backto-back threes to give the Breakers the lead for the first time in the game.
In fact, Penney nailed his first four attempts from deep on the way to scoring 19 first-half points as the Breakers out-scored the Kings 28-11 in the second period to lead 54-41.
The Kings came out swinging in the third quarter and quickly found their range to make major inroads into the Breakers’ lead.
The visitors dropped five shots from beyond the arc to close to within three points before a pressure-relieving triple from Penney late in the period put the hosts up 69-63.
The Breakers looked to heading for a comfortable finish but Sydney refused to go away.
Todd Blanchfield led the comeback with a team-high 21 points while Kevin Lisch chimed in with 17.
The game looked to be headed to over-time when import Perry Ellis tied the game with his late tip-in. But it was Newbill who had the final say, and he didn’t disappoint.