Trailing by 16 points with eight minutes left, Sydney staged a courageous fightback, scoring 15 points in two minutes led by consecutive triples from Casper Ware and Shaun Bruce and backed up with a deuce to Brad Newley,.
However a determined 36ers held on for the 85-80 win in front of a hometown crowd.
Dejan Vasiljevic had a career-high 28 points for the Kings, while Ware finished the game with 15 points and Jarell Martin made 13.
With four key Kings players – Daniel Kickert, Angus Glover, Didi Louzada and Xavier Cooks – all out injured, development players Jaylin Galloway and Archie Woodhill also had their first taste of NBL action.
The Kings will remain in South Australia to face a return match with the 36ers this Saturday night.
