Breakers’ defence exposed
WELLINGTON: Nathan Sobey exposed a porous New Zealand Breakers defence in a 114107 win which lifted the Adelaide 36ers closer to a place in the NBL finals.
Inform point guard Sobey tallied a seasonhigh 29 points in Auckland last night but did not ignore his teammates, dishing off nine assists.
His speed and control proved too much for the home side, whose minuscule playoff hopes are now over, despite more heroics from American centre Shawn Long.
In possibly his last game at Spark Arena, NBA prospect Long mixed 28 points and 12 rebounds in another virtual oneman show for the Breakers.
However, he could not plug the defensive woes that have plagued the seventhplaced Breakers, who have leaked more than 100 points in seven of their past eight games.
The fourthplaced 36ers’ offence is among the best in the league and they had no problem racking up at least 26 points per quarter to improve their record to 1412.
The 36ers close out the regular season with tough games against Melbourne and Perth.
Starters Daniel Johnson (19) and Demitrius Conger (15) also found ways to the basket as they levelled their season series with the Breakers 22.
Patrick Richard sank six threepointers in his 24 points for the Breakers while captain Tom Abercrombie managed 11 in his 300th game.
Forward Tai Wesley bemoaned the home side’s ongoing defensive issues.
‘‘In the second half we came out with some fight but they’d got going already. Our defence was horrible,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s been a frustrating year but you’ve got to take it on the chin and learn from it.’’
The 36ers led by 16 at one point in the third quarter and, while that margin was five with five minutes remaining, an effective offence ensured they stayed in front.