Inspired by the unexpected presence of Kirk Penney, New Zealand Breakers have outmuscled an error-prone Sydney Kings, dominating the rebounding to win 90-73 in their second NBL match-up in six days.
The Breakers collected 49 rebounds to Sydney's 29, with 19 of New Zealand's rebounds coming at their offensive end of the court.
Penney wasn't expected to play on Thursday due to the recent death of his father, but informed New Zealand coach Paul Henare of his desire to do so, a few hours before tipoff.
"We were preparing to play without Kirk and (then) he called me up at 5:00 today and said `can I come in?' - of course I said yes, the boys were galvanised when he walked into the locker room," Henare told reporters.
Having beaten the Kings 87-85 on the buzzer last Friday, the Breakers were better again on Thursday.
All the damage was done in the second quarter as the Kiwi side capitalised Sydney mistakes to outscore the Kings 31-12.
Skipper Mika Vukona registered a double-double for the hosts, while import Edgar Sosa scored 19 points to go with seven assists.
"We had solid contributions across the board (and) they believe in themselves, but it's a reasonably new group and we continue to grow - we'll need to against a good side like Melbourne on the weekend," Henare said.
Sydney sorely missed the accuracy and leadership of injured point guard and captain Kevin Lisch and they turned the ball over to New Zealand nine times across the four quarters.
The Breakers - much improved from their first-up loss to Cairns two weeks ago - now hold a 2-1 record.
Sydney have won just once in three games.
