Breakers clinch playoff spot
The Breakers are back in the playoffs thanks to their first backto-back Australian NBL victories since November.
Paul Henare’s men ground out a second successive win over the Illawarra Hawks in Auckland yesterday, backing up their 77-73 Friday night victory in Wollongong with an 88-84 result that seals their return to the postseason after missing the playoffs in 2016-17.
With veteran guard Kirk Penney sitting the game out to nurse a leg injury, the Breakers knuckled down well to outlast the Hawks.
The clean sweep of round 17 improves the Kiwi outfit to 15-9 and seals their spot in the playoffs with still four games remaining.
The Breakers’ offence flowed a little more freely yesterday, the hosts shooting an efficient 51 per cent (30/58) from the floor, going 10 of 24 from deep and, most importantly, knocking down 18 of their 19 free throws.
Import DJ Newbill made a timely return to top form for the Breakers, leading the way with 20 points on seven-of-13 shooting.
He went four of seven from deep and mixed things up nicely with a number of strong takes to the hoop.
Shea Ili added 17 points off the bench, 13 of them coming in a standout second half. He added four rebounds and five assists to complete an outstanding game.
Tom Abercrombie also found some shooting form to add 17 points (6/11 FG, 3/6 3PT), a dozen coming in the first half when he got things rolling nicely for the Breakers.
Import point guard Edgar Sosa also chipped in with a tidy 13 points and six assists for the victors.
The Hawks were paced by a game-high 22 points from Rotnei Clarke and 14 poinbts from Mitch Norton, but could not match the Breakers down the stretch of a tight finish.
The game had been locked at 45-45 at halftime and the Australians nudged in front 68-65 at the end of the third quarter, before the Breakers rode home on some clutch Newbill shooting in the closing minutes.
Henare was hugely satisfied with the professionalism of his men to grind out two important victories, after trailing at the three-quarter mark in both matchups.
"It was tough for both teams but we had the extra leg of travel," said Henare. "The focus was on doing the right things, the recovery things and the guys just being pros paid dividends for us.
"Also just having multiple guys to rely on was big for us. DJ has put in heavy workload over the last couple of games, and to be able to get through that and still be able to finish plays and close games out, that’s two games in a row now we’ve been able to stay disciplined and close games out the right way."
The Hawks were paced by a game-high 22 points from Rotnei Clarke and 14 points from Mitch Norton, but could not match the Breakers down the stretch of a tight finish.
"We had a real focus coming into this weekend on what we wanted to do. We prob weren’t as sharp in terms of our excution but being able to finish plays and knock down shots, we were better than the other night," added Henare.
"Overall we were able to create good shots which you need. DJ goes four for seven (from deep), Tommy goes four for six, Sos knocks down a couple ... you need to be able to knock down those shots."
The game, which featured 30 lead changes and 10 ties, had been locked at 45-45 at halftime and the Australians nudged in front 68-65 at the end of the third quarter, before the Breakers rode home on some clutch play from Newbill and Abercrombie in the closing minutes. The Kiwi club is now playing for the all-important home advantage for the playoffs, with a looming Friday-Sunday road/ home back to back against title favourites Melbourne set to be crucial on that front.