At Trusts Arena, Auckland: South East Melbourne Phoenix 99 (Kyle Adnam 17, Alan Williams 16, Mitch Creek 15, Trey Kell 13, Zhou Qi 10), New Zealand Breakers 77 (Jarrell Brantley 17, Derek Pardon 16, Izayah Le’afa 10). 1Q: 38-25; HT:58-41; 3Q 81-56.
As reality checks went, this was a dandy for the New Zealand Breakers. The hot-shooting South East Melbourne Phoenix came to town and snapped that Australian NBL three-game win streak like it was a spaghetti strand.
Coach Mody Maor can at least console himself that it took something special to sit his team on its backside for just the second time this season as the Phoenix shot the lights out at Trusts Arena en route to a runaway victory that was never in doubt from the early minutes when the visitors made their first seven shots and had the lead out to double-figures in a flash.
The defeat drops the travel-weary Breakers to 3-2 for the season, and they do not have long to lick the wounds, with a Sunday date in Cairns against the Taipans that will be tricky, to say the least. They at least figure to have star import guard Barry Brown Jr back for that one after he missed a third straight game on Monday night with a hamstring strain.
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It was a much-needed victory, too, for the Phoenix which explained the intensity they brought to comfortably their best outing of the season as they improve to 2-3. This was more like it from a group finally back to full strength (with speedy point guard Gary Browne the latest addition), and playing at a level their talent suggests they should.
The Phoenix got quality efforts throughout, with five players in double-figures on a night they had their shooting radars very much calibrated. Import big man Alan Williams was impressive with 16 points and 9 rebounds. He missed just one of his eight shots.
The always reliable Kyle Adnam added 17 points (4/6 FG, 7/7 FT), Mitch Creek 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, Trey Kell had 13 points and 5 dimes and the towering Zhiou Qi dropped 10, mostly on dunks, as the Phoenix shot an other-worldly 63 percent (36 of 57) from the floor for the game, and 47 (10 of 21) from beyond the arc. Browne looked promising too, with 8 points and 9 assists.
Import big men Jarrell Brantley and Dererk Pardon led the way for the Breakers with efficient nights shooting the ball. Brantley took just 10 shots for his 17 points, and Pardon was even more accurate, going 7 of 8 from the floor for his 16 points, and grabbing 5 boards, all off the offensive glass.
Sadly for the Breakers there was too little else of note. Izayah Le’afa did finish with 10 points, but went 3 of 17 to get there, while Will McDowell-White couldn’t add to his 8 first-half points in a quiet last two quarters. Rookie development player Alex McNaught did get to an NBL-best 7 points, and Tom Vodanovich chipped in with 8 points.
The Kiwi club shot a disappointing 38% from the floor and for the first time this season were well off the mark on defence.
It was all the Phoenix through the first two quarters as they came in hotter than lava, shooting a stunning 76% for the opening quarter to lead 38-25 at the first break, and cooling off only slightly in the second to take a 58-41 advantage into halftime at a stunning 65% clip. They also made 5 of 9 triples at a ridiculous 55% success-rate.
The Breakers’ much-talked-about defence, tops in the league coming into this round, had no answers to the Phoenix who attacked the rim at will and knocked down shots at an absurd clip, led by double-figure outputs from starters Creek (11), Williams (10) and sixth-man extraordinaire Adnam (12) and a quartet of dunks by Chinese star Zhou Qi. The 58 points conceded for the opening half was the most the Breakers have coughed up this season, easily eclipsing the 45 conceded
The home side did get an excellent first half out of imports Pardon (14 points on 6-of-6 shooting) and Brantley (12 points, also without a miss), though not such a good one out of off-key point guard Le’afa who missed all 10 of his field goal attempts.
The Phoenix lead grew as high as 30 in the third quarter and from there it was only a matter of how much as they cruised to the most comfortable of victories.
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