IN ONE of the most dramatic finishes to a National Basketball League (NBL) Championship Series game in the past five years, Bryce Cotton nailed a buzzer-beating game-winner as the Adelaide 36ers pipped the Sydney Kings in a firey encounter.

The Kings recorded a dominant win in game one of the series to put plenty of pressure back on the Sixers as the series moved to Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday night. It was going to need to be an improved effort from the home side if they were to avoid going down 2-0, but they were a better side on their own court.

Coming back from 14 points down and facing a 2-0 deficit in the series, the Sixers stormed home in a dramatic finish, with Cotton knocking down a layup in the dying seconds to give his side a two-point win to equalise proceedings.

Adelaide 36ers (91) def. Sydney Kings (89)

The Sixers looked much more energetic to start game two, scoring the first five points of the match to show that they had put plenty of work in following a disappointing start to the series. Adelaide then closed the quarter with 10 unanswered points to take a four-point buffer into the first change and show plenty more spark than its most recent outing.

The home side looked to extend their lead in the second term, with import John Jenkins providing some production from behind the arc. However, the Kings were not going to suffer a blowout of their own, closing out the half in strong fashion and cutting the margin from seven points to one point at the main break.

Sydney kept that momentum rolling into the third term, bursting out of half time on a 10-2 run to conjure a seven-point lead of its own. Suddenly, the pressure was back on the Sixers, down by 14 points and in danger of letting the series slip. They cut the deficit down to nine points at three quarter time, but still faced an uphill battle in the last 10 minutes.

The Sixers knocked down a couple of early three-pointers in the fourth term to keep chipping away at the margin, before a trio of free throws from Cotton brought them within one. Xavier Cooks helped the Kings steady with some strong work on the offensive boards, but Adelaide had the answers down the other end as words were exchanged by MVP finalists Cotton and Kendric Davis as the heat went up a notch.

With the game tied in the final minute, Davis drove into the basket, but could not finish the layup. With just seconds on the clock, Cotton stormed down the other end, beating the two-on-one with a finish at the cup that beat the buzzer and won the game for his side. Amidst his celebration, Davis got in the face of Cotton and the two had to be separated once again, adding to the drama of an enthralling series.

Cotton finished the match with 28 points on a perfect 9/9 shooting from the free throw line to go with six boards, six assists and three steals in a match-winning effort. Jenkins was important with 14 points, while Dejan Vasiljevic had some timely makes with 12 points of his own.

Davis finished with 20 points and six assists, but faced immense defensive pressure from the Sixers in a planned coverage of the superstar guard, while Xavier Cooks had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a hard-working performance.