The road back runs deep: Adelaide\u2019s rise revisited<\/a><\/p>\nTalking points<\/p>\n
The pressure test
\u200dThe Sydney Kings are back on their home floor for the winner-take-all final game of the Series, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. <\/p>\n
NBL legend, Lanard Copeland, posed the question of whether it would be the “biggest choke in history” if they can’t get it done.<\/p>\n
That topic has become a conversation because Sydney has squandered away strong positions to win in both games in Adelaide, and one more underwhelming performance could see all their hard work mean nothing.<\/p>\n
One final battle
\u200dIt’s been the headline all Series, Kendric Davis against Bryce Cotton, and in Game 4, there were a few moments where they directly went at each other on the court. <\/p>\n
However, this last game is all that will be left to write another chapter in one of their legacies. <\/p>\n
Can Cotton win another championship and cap off arguably his best season so far? Or does Davis get the last laugh and continue to walk the walk after speaking his mind in recent weeks?<\/p>\n
What they’re saying<\/p>\n
Kings coach Brian Goorjian on his team’s mantra:
\u201cOur whole mantra, especially through the Playoff series, has been TNT, ‘takes no talent’.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalking into the locker room for the minute before we walk on court, the crowds are irrelevant, the refs are irrelevant, and the opposition is irrelevant. Just control everything that you do that involves effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur communication piece, our pressure on the ball, our running the floor hard. And we feel like if we do those things, and it’s been proven over the course of the year, that we’re going to get what we want by the time this season finishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a long version of the process as opposed to anything else, but we\u2019re staying locked into the processes.\u201d<\/p>\n
36ers GM Matt Weston says all the pressure is on Sydney on Game 5:
\u201cIt’s a free hit for us. They’ve (the Kings)\u00a0got all the pressure on them. They’re the favourites, and we’re going back to that environment, and it’s not as hostile as here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve probably been underdogs all the way through this [Series], and that suits us well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat suits South Australians well, because we’re always looked at like you’re not Sydney, you’re not Melbourne. As a Sydney guy, I’m now South Australian, but I love that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve got a great team. They’ve got NBA guys, Olympians, and we’ve got a good team too, there’s no doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I love the underdog tag. South Australians love that. We’re going to go up, we’ve got a free swing, we’ve got nothing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Missing in action<\/p>\n
Sydney
Bul Kuol – Knee – Season
Keli Leaupepe – Knee – Season
Tyler Robertson – Shoulder – Season<\/p>\n
Adelaide
Ben Griscti – Neck – TBC<\/p>\n
>>\u00a0View full injury list<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775380450_803_69ba3d951d002ba2b025a249_NBL26)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney Kings v Adelaide 36ersSunday, April 5, 2.30pm AESTQudos Bank ArenaHow to watch\u200d \u200dWatch every Championship Series game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-586746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}