A gilt-edged National Basketball League playoff pathway is now within the grasp of the New Zealand Breakers, and a former coach who won four championships with the Kiwi club believes that makes them a dangerous prospect indeed.
The Breakers’ chances of finishing second overall, and earning a direct route to a best-of-three semifinal series they would hold home advantage for, received a major boost with Monday’s night’s home defeat by the Cairns Taipans to the Adelaide 36ers to wrap up the penultimate round of the regular season.
The Sixers’ 99-96 victory at the Cairns Convention Centre, behind a game-high 27 points from import Antonius Cleveland, puts the Breakers into the box seat in the tight race for second. An unlikely runnerup finish is now theirs – if they are good enough.
The Taipans’ defeat drops them to 17-10 with their final regular season game a difficult assignment at the Perth Wildcats on Friday night. Their best finish would be 18-10.
READ MORE:
* Cheers and tears as Breakers shake off two years of pain to seal playoff spot
* Resurgent NZ Breakers feature prominently among NBL award finalists
* Breakers keep spark alive with impressive win over Melbourne United
The 16-10 Breakers (currently third) wrap up their campaign with visits to the Illawarra Hawks (Thursday) and Brisbane Bullets (Saturday). Both are highly winnable contests for a full-strength Kiwi lineup, with the 3-23 Hawks sitting bottom of the table and 8-19 Bullets just one spot above them.
The Breakers’ vastly superior points percentage would see them own any tie-breaker over the Snakes. So, two wins would guarantee the Kiwi club second spot. One might even be good enough, should the Taipans go down to the 14-12 Wildcats who are also in the thick of the playoff race.
Under the NBL’s new format six teams qualify for the playoffs. The top two progress directly to the semifinals, where they hold home advantage. Third meets fourth, with the winner into the semifinals, and the loser meeting the winner of a fifth v sixth sudden-death contest for the final spot in the top four.
And the Breakers are looking ominous ahead of their first post-season tilt since 2017-18, according to former coach Dean Vickerman who was part of all four championships won by the Kiwi club between 2010-15. Vickerman’s Melbourne side eliminated the Kiwi club in a semifinal sweep on their last playoff appearance in 2018.
United saw a five-game win streak snapped at Spark Arena on Saturday night when the Breakers ground out an 80-74 victory. He told Stuff it was hard not to be impressed by what Mody Maor had achieved in the wake of their two-year Covid nightmare.
“It was their defence,” said Vickerman of a standout second half from the hosts. “They turned it up to another level, were still aggressive in their coverage but got out of it a little quicker which made us pick the basketball up and we weren’t able to move it the way we wanted. It created turnovers and we couldn’t get quality shots for Chris Goulding.
“Credit to Mody and his staff. They do a great job with their physicality. When we got into handoff action, the times they blew it up with their bodies … they were really good.”
Vickerman’s due deference contrasts sharply with the whining of Sydney Kings coach Chase Buford who, after a victory at Spark, complained that the Breakers’ physical defence left him thinking they were “playing the All Blacks”.
Vickerman felt the Breakers were a different beast with all hands on deck, with Barry Brown Jr (groin) and Izayah Le’afa (back) the latest to make it back off the injury-list.
“When we played them in Christchurch Brown didn’t play. When they’ve got Barry and Le’afa, who had a nice game too, you start with Tommy [Abercrombie] and [Rayan] Rupert and you’ve got Brown and Le’afa coming off the bench … that’s as good as it gets in the league in the guard rotation.
“When you add Rob [Loe] having the effect he did, it’s just the quality of their roster and their aggressiveness. The way they’re playing and their willingness to make the extra pass and share the ball makes them tough.”
Vickerman then told Stuff he believed the Breakers had “a lot more to give”.
“Will [McDowell-White] didn’t have his best game (zero points on 0-of=8 shooting) but he’s been phenomenal leading them. He’s just a problem in the on-ball, with the things he can do and getting everybody else involved.
“But it’s the defensive end to me. They’re knuckling down, they’re physical, they’re locked in to Mody’s system, and they’re well scouted. We were trying to run plays to get Chris open, and they were just too physical to let him get a good shot. Their commitment to that end is phenomenal.”
The NBL’s race for second*
17-10 Cairns Taipans: @Perth Wildcats, Friday, 11.30pm NZT,
16-10 NZ Breakers: @ Illawarra Hawks, Thursday 9.30pm; @ Brisbane Bullets, Saturday 10pm
* if teams finish tied, points percentage is decider. Breakers are 107.8; Cairns 102.9.
© 2023 Stuff Limited
