Rupert, Cooks injured in Kings' NBL win

The New Zealand Breakers could be without Rayan Rupert for the remainder of the NBL season after the French Next star suffered a wrist injury in their 81-77 loss to Sydney on Sunday.

Rupert left the court late in the first half and returned to the bench with his arm braced and in a sling after showing clear discomfort after a fall. 

He is a projected first round pick in the 2023 NBA draft and averages seven points per game through eight matches this year.

He had a season-high 11 points in the Breakers' win over Illawarra last month.

"Fingers crossed everything is OK," Breakers coach Mody Maor said. 

"He landed poorly on his wrist; hope it's nothing too bad. He's the best of kids, he deserves nothing bad to happen to him. Let's all just hope it's nothing serious."

The 18-year-old Frenchman wasn't the only casualty in Sunday's contest, with Kings star Xavier Cooks also leaving the game prior to the main break.

Cooks tweaked his left ankle driving to the paint after stepping on the foot of Thomas Abercrombie, who played his first game for the Breakers in New Zealand in 1011 days on Sunday.

Cooks will likely miss the Australian Boomers' next leg of World Cup qualifying, with a two week FIBA window beginning on Monday.

He was the game's leading scorer with 13 points before the injury, but his side still held on after a late flourish by the New Zealanders to win their 17th consecutive away game.

Izayah Le'afa willed the Breakers back into the contest in a fourth quarter storm, with the game-high 22-point lead narrowed to just four in the final minute of play.

Abercrombie dunked inside and the deficit was three with 17 seconds left but Derrick Walton Jr iced the game from the stripe and Sydney leapfrogged their opponents to go top of the NBL standings, even after a 50 point second half by the Breakers.

Cooks tied a team-high score of 13 points with Justin Simon, while Tim Soares added 11 points with seven boards for the Kings. 

For New Zealand, Barry Brown Jr led the game with 22 points and Le'afa added 15.

The Kings came into Sunday's contest with a clear game plan: run the ball in transition and don't let the NBL's second-slowest paced team set their defence.

Walton Jr pushed the pace from the outset and the Kings raced to a 10-0 start. New Zealand struggled offensively in the first term and faced a 26-12 deficit at the first break.

New Zealand were held to 26 per cent shooting in the first half and 29 per cent from beyond the arc to leave them chasing a 45-27 deficit.

Sydney shot the ball through 20 minutes at a 54 per cent clip and made five of their 11 three point attempts.