Basketball: Kings get it all wrong in countdown to NBL playoffs

By PETER JESSUP

The North Harbour Kings' clash with Waikato next weekend will give one of the teams leadership of the National Basketball League as well as a big psychological advantage ahead of the playoffs.

But the Kings were way short of the mental and physical application required to go all the way in slipping to a 69-89 loss against Auckland at Unitec on Saturday night.

Their star shooter, Purnell Perry, was shut down, managing only 11 points against a 25 average.

Captain Dillon Boucher turned it around for the home team with three steals and six points to take them from a one-point deficit to a five-point lead midway through the second quarter, and they never looked back.

The experience of Kenny Stone was also invaluable when the Kings applied pressure, the would-be retiree returning nine points, all at critical times, and his composure leading the way home.

"We were fired up to play and they weren't," he said. "They didn't have the fire in their eyes, Perry didn't look motivated."

The 35-year-old admitted he was happy to help out when asked, but will not be back for the playoffs. "It was just because Pero Cameron and Paul Henare were away [with the Tall Blacks] and they had injuries," Stone said. "It's nice to know I can still run around with these guys, though."

Waikato lost workaholic Riki Strother in the first five minutes of their game against Canterbury after taking an elbow shot to the back, but he is hopeful of playing the crucial last round next Saturday.

"It took a while for us to get going," coach Jeff Green said of their 104-94 win, "and a lot of that was down to losing Riki.

"But we're on target - Auckland did us a huge favour," was his call on the mind games likely from the Unitec result.

Auckland meet Wellington at Unitec next Saturday, the winner to scrape into the last of four playoff positions for the finals weekend at the North Shore Events Centre on August 11 and 12.

Wellington relinquished a 10-point lead to let a Tall Blacks-depleted Nelson team in for a last-gasp 79-78 win that has to raise questions about their focus.

If Auckland can shut down high-scoring import Terrence Lewis they will be more than halfway home and on Saturday night the Auckland Rebels looked - for the first time this season - like a team that could go to another title.