How to watch & talking points: Sydney v Adelaide (Championship Series, Game 5)

04 Apr 2026

sydney kings

adelaide 36ers

finals

It all comes down to this: Game 5 between Sydney and Adelaide to decide the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 champion.

Sydney Kings v Adelaide 36ers
Sunday, April 5, 2.30pm AEST
Qudos Bank Arena

How to watch‍

‍Watch every Championship Series game live on ESPN and 10.

>> How to watch ESPN

Tickets

>> Ticketing information

How to follow & live scores

‍Live scores, stats, breaking news and game highlights are available via the new and improved NBL App.

>> Visit Game Centre | Download the free NBL App now

How both Championship Series rosters were built

Sydney Kings: Fit for a King: The rise, fall and return of Sydney

Adelaide 36ers: The road back runs deep: Adelaide’s rise revisited

Talking points

The pressure test
‍The Sydney Kings are back on their home floor for the winner-take-all final game of the Series, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

NBL legend, Lanard Copeland, posed the question of whether it would be the "biggest choke in history" if they can't get it done.

That topic has become a conversation because Sydney has squandered away strong positions to win in both games in Adelaide, and one more underwhelming performance could see all their hard work mean nothing.

One final battle
‍It's been the headline all Series, Kendric Davis against Bryce Cotton, and in Game 4, there were a few moments where they directly went at each other on the court.

However, this last game is all that will be left to write another chapter in one of their legacies.

Can Cotton win another championship and cap off arguably his best season so far? Or does Davis get the last laugh and continue to walk the walk after speaking his mind in recent weeks?

What they're saying

Kings coach Brian Goorjian on his team's mantra:
“Our whole mantra, especially through the Playoff series, has been TNT, 'takes no talent'.

“Walking into the locker room for the minute before we walk on court, the crowds are irrelevant, the refs are irrelevant, and the opposition is irrelevant. Just control everything that you do that involves effort.

“Our communication piece, our pressure on the ball, our running the floor hard. And we feel like if we do those things, and it's been proven over the course of the year, that we're going to get what we want by the time this season finishes.

“It's a long version of the process as opposed to anything else, but we’re staying locked into the processes.”

36ers GM Matt Weston says all the pressure is on Sydney on Game 5:
“It's a free hit for us. They've (the Kings) got all the pressure on them. They're the favourites, and we're going back to that environment, and it's not as hostile as here.

“We’ve probably been underdogs all the way through this [Series], and that suits us well.

“That suits South Australians well, because we're always looked at like you're not Sydney, you're not Melbourne. As a Sydney guy, I'm now South Australian, but I love that.

“They've got a great team. They've got NBA guys, Olympians, and we've got a good team too, there's no doubt.

“But I love the underdog tag. South Australians love that. We're going to go up, we've got a free swing, we've got nothing to lose.”