Former NBL MVP Jaylen Adams has flexed his muscle as the Sydney Kings wiped out a huge deficit and launched a late surge to overrun the Brisbane Bullets in a 104-95 win at home.
The Kings were slow out of the blocks at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday and trailed by 14 points late in the first half before an 18-0 run straddling the main break put the two-time defending champions in control early in the third period.
The Bullets threw another punch back with a 10-0 run during the fourth quarter and led by six points with three minutes left.
But a pair of Adams buckets and two key plays from DJ Hogg - the second an interception on Mitch Norton's pass and open-court dunk to finish - put Sydney back on top.
They scored the last 15 points of the game and held firm in the desperate final stages to record a third-straight win and 10th successive home victory over the visiting Bullets.
It left the Kings (7-3) outright second on the ladder behind league-leading Melbourne United (9-2).
Adams was outstanding in the second half and led all scorers with 24 points plus four assists, while Hogg (16 points, six rebounds) and Jonah Bolden (13, nine) also had a significant say.
Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah hailed his team's resilience.
"Basketball's a game of runs and especially the last one ... they (Brisbane) didn't score in the last 3:12 or so," Abdelfattah said.
"Guys just battled through. We made some subs and I went through eight guys in that time span and they all contributed in their roles.
"You can't win every game easily and they're not going to quit but it was a dog fight. I'm proud of them, they battled back."
Brisbane led 51-37 with little more than one minute left in the first half on the back of an even scoring spread, but saw the advantage rapidly disappear.
The Kings' fightback left Bullets coach Justin Schueller livid, while star centre Aaron Baynes was forced to sit on the bench for periods after he ran into third-quarter foul trouble.
Baynes eventually fouled out late in the final period.
Brisbane's front-court stocks took another hit when they lost Tyrell Harrison to a calf muscle issue but they rallied against the odds and held sway with a 95-89 lead, with just three minutes left.
Two crucial Adams buckets cut the Kings' deficit to one point before Hogg but his stamp on the contest and Shaun Bruce iced the game.
League-leading scorer Nathan Sobey led Brisbane with 17 points as Josh Bannan (16) and Baynes (13) also made their presence felt.
"There's been a few games so far this season where we've been in winnable positions but we've let them go and it's a frustration because we know how great we can be in this league," Schueller said.
"Part of our learning right now is like how do we get 40 minutes of consistency?
"The last five minutes we let them have 17 points. We'd been solid all game and it's a frustration. That's the only word I've got for it."
