The Kings stunned the league on Saturday when the club announced that Forde would leave his post at the end of the season, prompting an immediate search for a long-term replacement.

The revelation came with just three rounds left to play in the regular season, and the Kings mired in a five-team tussle for the final two spots in the top four.

That number is all but certain to be down to four teams after the Kings found some semblance of an offence in the second half, led by a career-high 12 assists from star Casper Ware.

Fellow import Jarrell Martin had 20 points and nine rebounds, while Craig Moeller made an impact off the bench with 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

Forde admitted thinking the decision was to blame for being down by five points at halftime.

"It was so sluggish. I thought I'm responsible for this," Forde said.

"We're talking about adversity and we just added a little bit more to it with making the headlines again in the lead-up to a pretty important game when trying to make a playoff push.

"We got to halftime and I started off calm and then I was like, 'you know what, I'm coaching these guys the way I've been coaching them', so there was a few finger pointing and f-bombs ... it worked."

Forde, from Perth, went on to re-iterate how he had empathised with the New Zealand Breakers, who had spent three months away from home.

"I got two days before the hub to go home, and when we played Perth at the start of April, I got two days there," he said.

"So in the last three months, I've only been home for a total of 86 hours.

"It wears on you, but there's a combination of things where I wanted to be upfront and honest with Sydney as they were with me."

Adelaide, who claimed a dramatic comeback win in overtime over the Kings last week, couldn't muster the same effort and are now all but out of finals reckoning.

Next Gen star Josh Giddey, who scored just four points on 2-11 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists, could now sit out the rest of the season as he prepares for the NBA draft.

"That's a big question to be answered," Henry said.

"Josh wants to play. I'm sure we'll have discussions going forward. All I've heard is Josh is going to continue to play so he'll be ready to go on Friday night."

Australian Associated Press