Jaylen Adams has "let his hair down" to breathe life into the Sydney Kings' tilt for a third-straight NBL title in a 105-76 trouncing of the New Zealand Breakers.
The former MVP scored 39 points in just 27 minutes before being pulled from the Sunday's contest barely halfway through the final quarter to the dismay of the strong Qudos Bank Arena crowd.
Adams hit six three-pointers, was 63 per cent from the field and five-of-five from the free throw line.
But he was left one short of Perth rival Bryce Cotton's season-best 40-point haul as he set up a tasty battle between the pair when the teams meet next Sunday.
"When did Bryce do that? I'd say he had like 20 free-throw attempts, though," Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah joked post-game, before saying he never entertained the prospect of playing Adams in the final minutes.
A loss to Adelaide on Friday was the two-time defending champions' eighth from their past 11 games.
The emphatic response has pushed them back into fourth, equal with third and fifth-placed Tasmania and Brisbane at 11-11.
"It's been a tough stretch, but they understand putting things into perspective," Abdelfattah said.
"Life is bigger than basketball and I thought it brought some joy back ... they were having fun and after that, the talent shows."
The 29-point margin was the Kings' equal second-largest winning margin in the 40-minute era, and came after Kouat Noi missed a huge dunk in the final seconds that would have extended it.
Sydney led by as many as 38 points thanks to brilliant first-half shooting, with Adams making his first five triples and the hosts going 11-of-15 from deep before the main break.
"It felt like the last couple of games we felt the weight on our shoulders a bit; we wanted to come out and let our hair down," Adams said.
"We went out, played free and fun."
The Kings out-rebounded the Breakers 22-7 in the first half and began the third quarter explosively, with Jaylin Galloway dunking from a fast break created by Alex Toohey's steal.
Denzel Valentine was scoreless last time the teams met but the Kings forward was busy early, scoring 20 of his 23 points in the first half.
Four Breakers scored between 10 and 15 points but the visitors, who fell by one point at home to leaders Melbourne United on Friday in a controversial loss, were never in the hunt.
They're now wallowing second-last on the ladder but with an 8-12 record remain just two wins outside the top six.
"The perfect storm exists," Breakers coach Mody Maor said.Â
"Catch us a bit unready ... we miss a few shots, they shoot 70 per cent from three in the first quarter, most of them off the dribble.
"Some nights go like this; we'll flush this one down the toilet and prepare for the next."
