Down by 15 points with less than four minutes left in the final quarter against the Wildcats, a brave effort from the purple and gold fuelled by a late 11-point burst from Casper Ware (34 points, five rebounds, four assists) saw them cut the margin to just three with 25 seconds remaining.
Unfortunately, Sydney could get no closer and the Wildcats were able to finalise.
Though back at John Cain Arena in Melbourne two nights later, it was a much different story for the Kings whose stifling defence held the NZ Breakers to just six points in the second quarter and they never looked back.
It was a breakout night for centre Jordan Hunter who didn’t miss a shot on his way to 24 points. Dejan Vasiljevic continued his superb debut season by adding 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Playing their fourth game in seven days on Saturday and hamstrung by foul trouble for most of the night, an undermanned and underdog Sydney unit faced down every Melbourne United charge until the very end in a game that went right down to the wire.
The Kings get a few days to rest and recover before taking on the Cairns Taipans in the NBL Cup on Thursday night at the State Basketball Centre.
