TNT … and they’re dynamite: Kings ready to explode in Game 4

Winners of 15 of their past 16 games, the Sydney Kings’ late-season stretch has been as good as any team in recent memory.

The stats back that up too, with the Harbour City side leading the League in both offensive and defensive ratings during that stretch.

The key to that success, especially during the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Finals, has been ‘controlling the controllables’ according to coach Brian Goorjian.

“Our whole mantra, especially through the Playoff series, has been TNT, 'takes no talent',” Goorjian said to ABC News Breakfast.

“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.”

That process once again worked for the Kings on Sunday, defeating Adelaide by 13 points to move to 2-1 in the Championship Series.

“The support and having home court [advantage by] finishing on top really helped us, gave us an edge in this game,” he said.

“We're in an absolute battle. All three games have been very physical, and [on Sunday] the guys stayed with the game plan and executed it under pressure, because it took us close to 35 minutes to pull away from them.

“[We] got contributions from the whole roster. It was a very pleasing performance.”

Looking ahead, Goorjian knows Game 4 will be another “chess match”, which he hopes results in bringing home a sixth championship to the “best coaching environment in the country”.

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To do so, Goorjian appreciates that he will need another strong performance from his star guard Kendric Davis, who produced a historic 34 points, 15 assists and 0 turnovers in Game 3.

While Davis had the better of Sunday’s game at Qudos Bank Arena, six-time MVP Bryce Cotton starred in Game 2.

Like all basketball fans alike, seven-time Coach of the Year Goorjian is loving the intense rivalry between not only the two electric guards, but the two franchises.

“It [the rivalry] is fantastic for basketball,” Goorjian said.

“I'm not one for all the hugs and kisses and high fives [between teams].

“There's a tremendous respect, but there's also no love lost between either team or organisation.

“You can tell by the support this Series is getting, there's a lot in it, and you can see it when we play. Both teams are diving on the ball, pressuring the ball, and high-fiving each other. It's a fight.

“As a spectacle, and there's been a lot of good ones in the NBL, but this rivalry's one of the best.”

Game 4 of the Championship Series tips off at 7.30pm AEDT on Wednesday at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, live on ESPN and 10 Drama in Sydney and Adelaide.