Match Preview: Sunday square off with Sydney

The Adelaide 36ers will be looking to square the ledger against the Sydney Kings when the sides face off in the harbour city on Sunday afternoon.

The game is the second of a three-game road stint for the Sixers after Friday night’s nail-biting overtime win against New Zealand in Auckland.

The Kings have had an extra day of rest and didn’t need to travel, having beaten an undermanned Tasmania outfit in Sydney on Thursday night.

The Kings have had the wood over the Sixers this season, winning two of the three meetings between the sides, though it was the Sixers who came out on top in the most recent meeting.

That was earlier this month when Flynn Cameron scored a career-high 25 points and the Sixers came home strong after a slow start to win 85-79 in Adelaide.

On that night, the Kings lost Bul Kuol to a season-ending knee injury and they have since replaced him with NBA veteran Torrey Craig.

Craig knows the NBL after playing 88 games for Cairns and Brisbane over a decade ago and will provide valuable defensive cover in Kuol’s absence.

Craig is likely to spend plenty of time guarding Sixers co-captain Bryce Cotton, who was at his best with 33 points and nine assists in Friday night’s win across the ditch.

Cotton was pleased to escape with the win over a Breakers outfit that pushed the Sixers all the way, and he knows it’s a sign of what is to come in the run-in to the playoffs.

“That's something that we have to understand going forward,” Cotton explained after the game, calling for improvement from his side.

“No matter who we're playing, we're going to get every team's best shot because we're the standard of the league.

“We've been the number one team in the league for however many weeks now. So, you know, we need to act like it.

“I'm happy that we got the win, but the fact we were up 10 with probably three minutes left and went into overtime, (there’s) some things we’ve got to look over.”

Sunday’s game gets underway at 2:00pm ACDT / 2:30pm AEDT.

If you can’t be there to watch in person, you can catch it live on ESPN via Kayo or Disney+, or on free-to-air television on Channel 10.

SYDNEY KINGS vs ADELAIDE 36ERS
Qudos Bank Arena, Sunday 25 January, 2:00pm ACDT
Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Disney+, or on Channel 10

OVERALL
Played 114, Adelaide 65, Sydney 50

At Qudos Bank Arena
Played 20, Adelaide 13, Sydney 7

LAST FIVE MATCHES
Jan 2, 2026 – 36ers 85 def Kings 79 at AEC
Dec 17, 2025 – Kings 97 def 36ers 93 at AIS Arena, Canberra
Oct 11, 2025 – Kings 103 def 36ers 79 at AEC
Feb 13, 2025 – 36ers 95 def Kings 88 at Qudos Bank Arena
Jan 24, 2025 – 36ers 105 def Kings 96 at Qudos Bank Arena