Long powers Breakers home
Shawn Long has finally found beast mode and the Breakers are rolling with it.
The big American from Louisiana, who played 18 NBA games for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016-17, was outstanding for the Breakers as they snapped a three-game home losing streak with a 96-79 victory over Rob Beveridge’s Illawarra Hawks.
It was always only a matter of time before Long started coming up big for the Breakers and, after posting a 16-point/13-rebound doubledouble in last Sunday’s victory in Cairns, he followed that up with 26 points (10/14 FG), 13 rebounds and 2 blocks against the Hawks at Hamilton’s Claudelands Arena.
The 25-year-old centre cut through some flimsy interior defence to send down eight or nine big dunks in 29 quality minutes to thrill the midsized seasonal crowd that turned up for this rare ANBL outing in the Waikato. ‘‘He’s a very talented individual and as long as he’s staying in games we’re goign to be good,’’ said coach Kevin Braswell of his star big man.
The win, their second on the bounce following a five-game losing skid, improved the Breakers to 6-8 and sees them leapfrog the now 6-9 Hawks on the table into sixth spot.
Like last week in North Queensland, Long had some solid support from his team-mates. The livewire Jarrad Weeks continued his hot form to post 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting off the bench, while Armani Moore also brought the energy off the pine to chip in with 13 points (5/9 FG), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a pair of blocks.
And Patrick Richard snapped out of his personal funk and shook off a muddling start to knock down some late shots en route to 14 points (5/13 FG), 3 rebounds and 6 assists.
Shea Ili’s shot wasn’t dropping and four turnovers was one or two more than he would have liked, but he still chimed in with 11 points via a 3-of-10 shooting night. And of course Mr Reliable Tai Wesley found his way to contribute with 8 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and 4 blocks.
(Shawn Long 26, Patrick Richard 14, Jarrad Weeks 13, Armani Moore 13, Shea Ili 11), Illawarra Hawks 79 (Jordair Jett 16, AJ Ogilvy 13, Todd Blanchfield 11, Cedric Jackson 10, Brian Conklin 10). 1Q: 22-10; HT: 46-32; 3Q: 70-56.
NZ Breakers 96