Playoff hopes on line for both Breakers and Hawks

THE New Zealand Breakers’ season hangs in the balance ahead of this weekend’s homeand-away NBL series against the Illawarra Hawks.

Fourth on the ladder, the Breakers are three wins ahead of the fifth-placed Hawks, and back-to-back wins will effectively guarantee a spot in postseason play.

A split weekend will maintain the Breakers’ healthy advantage and keep them in touch with the top of the table, but two losses will allow the Hawks to remain alive in the race for the top four.

Breakers coach Paul Henare is well aware of the implications but welcomes the challenge.

“Every game is important, every game is worth the same value on the ladder, but of course these two games have the added weight of playoff hopes of two teams hanging over them,” he said.

Henare said the closeness of the two teams on the ladder would bring an added edge.

“But the pressure to perform is no different to any other game, any other week – our focus is on executing our game plan, playing well and the result will look after itself.”

Leading from the front will be experienced centre Alex Pledger, who has seen it all in nine years and four championship titles with the Breakers.

“These are the moments and the games we train for,” he said.

The clubs have met just the once this season, with the Hawks winning 90-79 in Wollongong three weeks ago.