Breakers out-muscled in loss to Adelaide
The New Zealand Breakers slumped to another defeat, outmuscled by the Adelaide 36ers yesterday.
The Breakers were dominated on the boards, out-rebounded 54-28 by the 36ers in the 109-98 loss at Titanium Security Arena.
Adelaide shot 50 from the field, led by skipper Daniel Johnson (28 points), with good support from Nathan Sobey (21 points, 12 rebounds).
There were good games from Shea Ili (19 points), Finn Delany (18 points on 6-6 shooting) and Jarrad Weeks (18 points), but they didn’t get enough from Corey Webster (11 points on 4-14 shooting) on his return from injury, Tai Wesley (10 points on 4-9 shooting) or Patrick Richard (six points on 1-9 shooting).
The Breakers came into the
match on a two-win streak and made a fast start after eight firstquarter points from Ili. They led by as many as 10 points before being pegged back, ending the quarter up 29-26.
But that lead quickly disappeared as Adelaide went on a pair of 6-0 runs through the middle stages of the second quarter to go up by as many as 13 points before two late threes from Weeks and Webster brought the deficit back to six at halftime.
The Breakers missed their first six shots of the third quarter, while Adelaide’s shooters were red-hot, hitting their first five shots to lead by 18. Sobey was the chief destroyer for the 36ers, scoring 10 points during that run.
The Breakers’ cause wasn’t helped by so many of their leading players being in foul trouble, with Delany, Ili, Wesley and Shawn Long all on four fouls by the end of the third quarter.
But even with those issues, a 9-0 run across the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter had the Breakers back in contention, down just six points. Delany led the fightback with six of those points, including a tough threepoint play late in the third.
Long fouled out with 5.58 to go in the quarter, which coincided with the 36ers finding another gear through the middle stages of the quarter to pull away.
Delany and Wesley also took permanent spots on the bench with 1.56 and 1.44 to go respectively. Their side went down 11 after Wesley’s offensive foul as the 36ers closed out what was a comfortable win in the end.