Kouat Noi has scored a career-high 32 points off the bench to help the Sydney Kings climb to third on the NBL ladder with an 88-77 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Noi buried 18-of-19 free throws, including seven straight inside the last 90 seconds as the Kings prevailed in front of 16,705 fans at Qudos Bank Arena - the league's biggest crowd since Game 5 of the 2022-23 grand final series between triumphant hosts Sydney and the New Zealand Breakers.
Jaylen Adams aided Noi with 17 points and six assists in Sunday's game as the Kings (15-10) leapfrogged Melbourne and South East Melbourne on the table.
"I feel really excited about where we went to win the game," Kings coach Brian Goorjian said.
"We won the game in all those controllable areas."
Imports Milton Doyle (21 points) and Jordon Crawford (17) led the way for the sixth-placed JackJumpers (12-13), who were left to rue a 17-5 turnover count.
Sydney led 16-15 at the end of a first-quarter grind afflicted by poor shooting from the Kings and Tasmania's plethora of turnovers.
The scrappy nature of the clash between the league's two premier defensive outfits continued in the second term.
Doyle had 12 points on the board by half-time as the dogged Jackies largely controlled the tempo.
But the Kings, despite their stagnant half-court offence, still led 38-34 at the main break.
Sydney's advantage grew to eight points in the third term before Crawford paced a 9-0 run which briefly gave Tasmania the lead.
In-form sixth-man Noi scored 15 of the Kings' 18 third-quarter points, including a pair of foul shots in the final seconds to single-handedly edge the Kings ahead 56-55.
Back-to-back triples from Ian Hummer and Doyle midway through the fourth put the visitors ahead, before Adams replied with a three and a lay-up.
Sydney maintained the momentum down the stretch, shaking off the long arm-wrestle to score 18 of the last 22 points.
"There were just little moments that were self-inflicted, a few bad turnovers here and there, a (missed) box-out," JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
"We gave them quite a scare, I believe, and I'm really proud of our group."