According to two-time NBL champion Lanard Copeland, all the pressure is on Sydney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat game is going to be harder for Sydney than it will be for Adelaide,\u201d Copeland said on NBL Now\u2019s Roundtable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdelaide, it\u2019s against us the world, Sydney, you\u2019re at home, your family\u2019s there, everyone\u2019s putting the pressure on you \u2026 if you don\u2019t get the job done, could this be the biggest choke in NBL [history]?<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the first game \u2026 44 points \u2026 it should be over.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Copeland still backed the Kings to take the title, alongside NBL champion Pete Hooley, both made it clear this decider could go either way.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it\u2019s a Game 5, are Sydney the better team than Adelaide? Yes. We all still say that. And Sydney have shown that \u2026 we talk about the dominance in the Series,\u201d Hooley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they didn\u2019t get it done, it would be outrageous, because they\u2019ve been not just better throughout this whole season, but this Series where you\u2019ve seen that little bit of dominance.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw time led, the way they\u2019ve done it, they\u2019ve got up by double-digits twice on the road and just not got it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we fast-forward to Sunday and they win by double-digits convincingly at home, would we be surprised? No, because they\u2019re very hard to beat at home. But there\u2019s a whole lot of pressure on this \u2026 Game 5 is anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Former NBL MVP Derek Rucker also backed Sydney to get the job done, but said Cotton could be ready to explode.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so unpredictable. You don\u2019t know what impact nerves are going to have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd with Bryce, he just goes for a 40-piece and says \u2018there\u2019s nothing Sydney can do, I\u2019m just putting up 40\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow panellist Kelsey Browne is backing the 36ers to pull off a road upset.<\/p>\n
Sydney hosts Adelaide in Game 5 at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday, live on ESPN and 10 from 2:30pm AEST.<\/p>\n
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