Starting like flat beer and finishing like champagne, Sydney secured a National Basketball League top-two spot and semi-final place with a 124-94 home win over Victoria at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

The defending champion ladder-leader enjoyed its sixth straight win, all at home, and finished with a 14-3 regular season record on home pine.

Sydney, which finishes the regular season with tough away games against local rival West Sydney and Brisbane, appeared sluggish in the early stages.

Inspirational Matthew Nielsen single-handedly ignited the Kings who trailed 24-18 late in the first quarter.

Living up to his `nitro' nickname, the agile forward scored his team's next 12 points in the space of two memorable game-changing minutes.

Nielsen, the league's leading scorer, finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

The Kings never looked back after their skipper's scoring burst, leading 33-25 at quarter-time, 63-48 at halftime and 93-73 at the last break.

The Giants couldn't get the deficit below 13 points in the second half and the Kings' 14-0 run in the last period put the seal on an emphatic performance.

For Sydney, Energetic import Ebi Ere finished with 24 points and guard C J Bruton 22.

Victoria's ability to curtail Nielsen was hampered by the foul trouble of its two tallest players, Ben Pepper and Matt Smith, who had four and five fouls respectively by halftime.

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