Should be great game,
Brantley v Cooks should be an absolute belter, hopefully refs let them and neither gets foul trouble. There are match ups all over the floor, point guards should also be great, Walton v WMW.
I just think Sydney are stronger off the bench, really like how Glover is going, Bruce also gets things done. Kings by 8 seems right to me.

This could also lead to home court advantage in finals, massive mid season game.

Ordinarily I'd be picking Kings but I think the Breakers will be hurting after their last one against Perth. It will be interesting if the Breakers use Abercrombie on Cooks at times to combat his mobility. This one is too close to call, hope we have any exciting contest for the benefit of league.

GF preview? Breakers smarting after a loss at home and the kings are coming off a big win. Should be a barn burner

I got Kings, Breakers are too up and down for me at their home. I stuffed up my last three tips last round. Hoping Kings will get me up the ranks since Breakers let me down against Perth.

Cracking start. Abercrombie on limited time due to virus, not starting.

3 minutes mark, 5-1 foul count against nz.

Buford the new Gleeson of the league, gets every call, it's unbelievable. Foul count 9-2, free throws, 13-3, kings by 9, nz can’t win against those odds. Kings are a fantastic team but the help they get from the refs isn’t right.

Cooks just doesn't miss from anywhere near the basket.

Cooks needs to go to the NBA sooner rather than later. His touch around the basket is insane.

Man Buford is really starting to rub me the wrong way. Your teams already getting benefit of the whistle and you still complain none stop.

Kings by 12, fouls evened slightly, kings in total control. The daylight is getting bigger, no one beats kings in 5 game gf series.

Foul count 13-4. How is that evened slightly from 9-2? Smh

Sydney seems to have an extra gear that the Breakers don't have.

Well it was only 4-2 fouls in the second, it's hard to be critical of kings but when nz did make a run mid second quarter, Buford was up again arguing with refs.

Buford is as I said previously, he's is the new Gleeson, every one gets shits with but boy can coach.

Horrible call, Cooks was not there. Bring in the wnbl refs, they got more idea

Vaughan getting a tad upset.

Brown just call Mayberry he was cheating, got tech fouled, number 4 on him. The refereeing up to this stage has been one sided.

Sydney getting every call and they are playing away.

Horrible call, Cooks was not there. Bring in the wnbl refs, they got more idea

Dumbest post ever

Breakers uniform a leader in the all ugly competition.

How cam one team be so perfect and another so foul prowl. 19 to 4, and that's only because breakers challenged one and won it.
Wnbl refs I watched last night far better than what’s gone down today, I’ll stick with my call.

Yeah those Breakers unis are an eyesore.

Sydney just too good atm. Breakers flustered and haven't been able to claw back to a reasonable margin. Home crowd ready to explode if they get near the Kings.

Watching Breakers home games has also reminded me that Franks can be a tough listen at times when he rattles on.

Seriously.

Sydney getting a lot of love in this game from the refs.

Then the 3 FIBA referees (all full time or part time employees) should be replaced by 3 refs with a combined total WNBL experience! None have even ref'd an NBL blitz game. Hence why your take is the dumbest take/opinion ever!

chill Sebby - point that was lost on you

It actually wasn't. The 3 last night did a nice job on the level of game they were on. This is a whole different beast hence the dumbest take ever. Let's put 3 WNBL rooks on 1 v 2! Brilliant lol

Good game this - looking forward to watching these two in the finals.

Point still lost on Seb

Nope

The refs today can have as many fiba certificates as you like, or what ever status you like, they were rubbish, spoiled a good game, if those refs last night are I don't care, they made good calls and didn’t have a coach dictating to them.

I've said kings then daylight last season and this season, I still think that, I just think they need a hand up.

^^^^ don't think.

What's the capacity at Spark Arena these days? Have they reduced it? They can't seem to get a crowd of over 5000 yet despite their success and 2 years of being on the road. What's the story in NZ? Just not as popular anymore?

This crowd was under 3500 for a top of the table game is pretty bad. Not Illawarra bad, but in the context of a blockbuster it sure was.

Let's see that WNBL crew on an NBL men's game and then your ridiculous opinion will look just that

Breakers have lost connection with their fan base being away two years. It will take time to rebuild.

As awful as the one-sided refereeing was, the Breakers had plenty of chances but went dry offensively when it mattered multiple possessions in a row.

Cooks should go NBA now. Brantley is dominant, but was nothing in front of Cooks.

Weird game to be at. Felt like the breakers were getting hammered but they were only 4 or 6 down for a lot of the 4th. Be interesting to see the replay on TV to see if the refs were as bad as it seemed. Felt like the Kings could play physical and reach in etc and the breakers were blown up at every opportunity. A few good flops by the Kings as well. Man Cooks is good though. If he could shoot FTs and 3s he could be unstoppable.

One weird thing about the game. When Buford got angry and came on the court at timeouts etc. 2 of the referees literally gave him cuddles. Honestly they put there arms around his waste. One time just about slipped down to his butt. In all different sports I have never seen the referees have contact like that with a coach. It seemed so unprofessional. What must the Breakers coach, fans and players think when the foul count is ridiculously One sided and they see the officials touching the opposition coach in a friendly manner. I think the league needs to ensure no players or coaches touch or get touched by officials.

Brown appears to have made the correct call. Not sold on Kings being so invincible, the lop sided foul count, plus some oblivious make up calls they only manage to win by 7. Guess we shouldn't be surprised that Kings given the game after all a change at the top keeps folks interested. Well done refs

Kings get a lot of easy calls, not sure why they argue?

They are pretty average at home.

Presser after game interesting after reporters tried to get Tom V and Maor to bite about officiating TV " no comment" , Māor asks reporters what they thought then followed that up with “ Last week our organization made a mistakes we admit to it, learn from it and try to correct it, we would expect NBL to do the same”.
Buford just started out his with a wwhinge about the appalling amount of calls the refs missed. Basically called the Breakers and Cairns a bunch of thugs. No class at all.

Foul count is not, by itself, an indicator of bad refereeing. Sometimes one team is far too physical. But I honestly felt last night the Kings got away with being extremely physical at times on one end only to get soft call at the other end.

Frustrating game to watch.
I'm not one to blame refs for a result but it certainly felt like the game was being called differently at each end.
Credit to Sydney though, they def seem to be head and shoulders above everyone else this season.

There was foul called on Pardon for a moving screen that Cooks ran into it, Buford went ballistic, replay clearly showed Pardon didn't move, it was BS.

Can't be right Dunkman, Buford does not question the refs.

He is very relaxed and concentrates on coaching (which admittedly he does well with a very stacked team!)

Bufords comments regarding the Breakers playing like the All Blacks is embarrassing. Every other Coach who has lost against them has been professional and complimentary yet he wins and he still has a sook and a whinge.
Are Sydney the biggest sooks in the comp?

Dunkman it was the first quarter, it was Galloway and not Cooks. And Pardons stance was too wide. Legs outside his cylinder.

Buford complaining post game about the
'all black' breakers, 3 days out from playing the physical Jackjumpers is surely just a coincidence.

Green Ant - very good point.

Of course it is a coincidence.

Kings are so damn talented they should be able to win without this bs.

@ Sebastian

Yes his stance was slightly wider if we are talking about the same incident, if refs going to start calling slightly wide stances, there isn't a legal screen in the nbl.

The one sided reffing yesterday was an embarrassment, Brown got it right, cheating, his arm was whacked, no call.

NZ should go through the tape an show every no call on them that the kings get.

Given the two absolute bail-outs Brown got in the opening quarter just driving straight into defenders and initiating contact, he shouldn't be complaining!

While the foul count was bad, giving Kings the ball after Soares got his shit blocked is another example of one eye closed.

Buford had a go in his press conference yesterday on the two sides that are a chance of beating Sydney in a finals series, Cairns and NZ. It's spin to put the refs under pressure, while he yells from the sidelines. Again imo it’s Sydney then daylight but Buford isn’t leaving anything to chance.

It's not BS dunky it’s illegal smh

And just because they missed a call in the inside arm from centre hardly amounts to cheating. It’s an error. They happen.

Yes it does happen, mistakes both players and officials, my complaint is you have to ref both sides the same, no matter what Buford says, that didn't happen yesterday, I’d think the majority watching the game would agree with that.

"While the foul count was bad, giving Kings the ball after Soares got his shit blocked is another example of one eye closed."

This was a really bad call. Brantley's hand was not on the ball when Soares landed. Loved Casey Frank’s reaction though.

As an aside, many here complain about Mitchell but if you contrast his post-game conference after he got thumped much more classy than Buford.

Despite a talented team, I think Buford is worried about Cairns, NZ and maybe JJs too. NZ did not shoot well, had foul trouble, a bad offensive game from Brantley, and it was still close.

Buford doesn't take losing well. His owners probably remind him how much they're really spending on the team each time they lose ;-)

I agree EssenX, Simon Mitchell's post game comments after getting massacred were classy and reflect well on SEM where as Buford's fit in well with the dribble that falls out of Sydney's owners mouth on the regular.

This is true Dunkman but you have to also look at how the game is played. NZ took 30 of their 68 shots from 3, Kings only launched 19 of 62 from 3. A 3 point shooter gets fouled what once maybe twice a game? Hard to get to the free throw line when nearly half your shots are from deep. It's obviously not the only factor but it certainly contributes to the foul count disparity.

@ Sebastian

You are sort making my point, kings were allowed to go inside and got fouls so they could go to the stripe, when breakers tried got no calls and started jacking threes.

Look at the season. They play from the 3 point line. It's ok to be wrong. And if that was their strategy then Modi needs to be sacked

Breakers took 32 threes against Perth. Nothing to do with the refs.

The reality is New Zealand are playing the most physical basketball in the league, that has been commented on across the comp. Early in the season when there were very few calls being made that worked for them, now that the refs have changed the way they are calling the game they need to adjust.

Wow look at that ^ FIBA released figures recently. 78% of all fouls occur inside the 3 point line!! Hmmm might be something in that.