AFTER a short midseason break, the National Basketball League (NBL) action fires back up with the New Zealand Breakers hosting the Sydney Kings at Claudelands Arena tonight.
Currently sitting in the middle of the pack at fifth place with a 7-6 record, the Kings will look to start off their second half of the season with a bang, especially after losing their last game 104-81 against the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Even with the offseason signings of MVP runner up Kendric Davis and NBL finals MVP Matthew Dellavedova, the team has not been able to quite live up to their expectations. These signings were supposed to put Sydney right into championship contender talks, but at this point all hype has died down, especially with Dellavedova who has taken a step down in play at age 35.
Key starter Xavier Cooks has also looked quite questionable at times. On his best day he can be one of the most game-changing players in the competition but he still has not been able to keep up consistent levels of play, and in his most recent game against the JackJumpers he scored just five points. However before that he had a stretch of four games where he played at a star level, especially against the Brisbane Bullets where he had an impressive double-double with 24 points and 10 boards.
In another game during that four game stretch, he played against the Breakers, putting up a spectacular statline of 21 points and pulling down 14 boards. Another big addition for the Kings over the offseason was bringing back NBL championship winner Tim Soares, who has also been a good pickup for them as an inside presence who can score if needed.
The New Zealand Breakers on the other hand, whilst sitting at seventh place will have high morale as they were able to get a win together in a close game against the Cairns Taipans in their most recent game, winning 102-96.
The Star duo of Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Sam Mennenga has been essential for the club, along with a third option in Izaiah Brockington, who has been a scoring threat all season long, having his best two games unexpectedly against the two best teams in the competition being the Adelaide 36ers and Melbourne United. Saying this, the Breakers just might be able to make something of this game, especially with being at home and having confidence coming off a win.
The last time these teams played each other was on the 9th of November, with Sydney winning the matchup 79-72, with the main action being a battle between the point guards Kendric Davis (21 points and six assists) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (23 points and seven assists) .
In saying this, even though the Breakers sit below the Kings on the table, the gap between the teams are not far apart, and it will come to whoever’s team wants it the most.
