Sydney Kings reclaimed NBL bragging rights over bitter rivals Illawarra on Sunday, hammering the Hawks 98-71 in a Freeway Series blow-out at WIN Entertainment Centre.

Ending a six-game losing streak to the defending NBL champions stretching back to 2023, the Kings (7-5) led from start to finish to register their fourth straight victory, and the first for coach Brian Goorjian against Illawarra counterpart Justin Tatum.

Despite the lopsided score, the game was a typically fiery affair between the NSW clubs in the first leg of the Adrian Hurley Cup and the famed Freeway Series.

Referees handed out technical fouls to Sydney’s Xavier Cooks and Kouat Noi and Illawarra’s JaVale McGee and Todd Blanchfield, and blew an unsportsmanlike foul on Illawarra’s Mason Peatling, to maintain order on the

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