Torrey Craig’s missed free throw for Sydney in the dying seconds has allowed Adelaide to level the NBL championship series at 2-2 with a gripping 92-91 win.
Craig was fouled with the Kings trailing by two points with 2.8 seconds remaining in Game 4 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night.
The classy American swished his first shot but left the second well short, with the miss collected by Sixers centre Isaac Humphries.
Import Zylan Cheatham (23 points, eight rebounds, nine assists) flirted with a triple-double, while captain Dejan Vasiljevic and Bryce Cotton scored 19 points each.
Kendric Davis, booed all evening, paired 22 points with 10 assists for Sydney, and Jaylin Galloway had 20 points, including five three-pointers.
Adelaide jumped ahead 5-0, fell behind 14-22, then went on a 17-4 burst either side of quarter-time to move in front 31-26.
It didn’t take long for the Kings to seize control again.
Craig kept them in the hunt before a Davis triple capped a 13-1 close to the second term, which extended Sydney’s cushion to 53-46 at half-time.
Superstar Bryce Cotton was held to 19 points but Adelaide emerged with the win to ensure a Game 5. (AAP: Matt Turner)
Adelaide had 16 assists from 17 field-goal makes – and just four turnovers – at the main break, but defensively they struggled to contain the super-efficient Kings, who shot 63.6 per cent at the half.
Sydney pulled ahead 71-62 on a Makuach Maluach trey, but their hot pace cooled off late in the third term, during which they coughed up seven turnovers.
Cheatham’s last-second tip-in off Cotton’s miss slashed the Kings’ buffer to 74-72 at three-quarters time.
The lead oscillated several times in a gripping final quarter.
With the scores tied at 90-all, Davis missed an under-pressure three before Cotton knocked down two free throws with a minute to go, after Matthew Dellavedova was whistled for his first foul since Game 2.
Davis and Vasiljevic traded air balls down the stretch, before Craig’s free-throw miss ensured a title-deciding fifth game at Qudos Bank Arena on Easter Sunday.
AAP
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