Melbourne game emotional for Tai

As Tai Wesley watched his former Melbourne United teammates hoist the championship banner in their Australian NBL home opener on Sunday, the emotions came flooding back for the hard-nosed American power forward.

Turned out it was just what the Breakers needed to snap out of their early-season funk and record a much-needed first victory for the new 2018-19 campaign.

The Breakers finished opening round 1-1 after a notable 88-81 victory over defending champs Melbourne in their house on Sunday, and off-season recruit Wesley, who had a game-high 25 points and six rebounds, said good old-fashioned emotions were behind that for the Kiwi club after a flat opening home defeat to Brisbane last Thursday night.

Wesley, who added a title with Melbourne last season to the one he won with the Breakers in 2014-15, admitted watching the banner get raised had set his pulse racing before tipoff.

‘‘The emotions were high, they were flowing, especially with the pre-game ceremony,’’ Wesley said after having 21 of his points over the first two quarters.

‘‘It definitely got a little emotional for me. You shake this guy’s hand you went to war with for two years really.

‘‘It was an emotional game and I needed that.

‘‘I felt like there was no emotion in our first game. We needed to put our hearts on the line and play with some fire.’’

The 32-year-old Wesley, now a senior figure in his second stint with the Breakers, said he realised in the wake of the Brisbane defeat he had to take on more responsibility.

‘‘We’re so young, we’re going to get better each week. I realised it has to start with me. Coach had us watch the Brisbane game that night before we went to bed.

‘‘I just looked at how it wasn’t the Breakers we know of, where they’re playing with their hearts, with emotion and energy.

‘‘We had to come in here and change that – and I think we all did that.’’

It wasn’t a perfect display but it was a lot better from the Breakers as they battled back from an uncertain start that saw them trailing 28-19 after the opening quarter.

They also won without a meaningful contribution from Corey Webster, who missed nine of his 12 shots en route to just seven points and four turnovers. The Kiwi outfit had just 11 assists on 35 made baskets and made just four of 16 three-pointers for the game.

But they stormed back with a 28-14 second quarter and got home behind strong showings from Wesley, Tom Abercrombie, who overtook Kirk Penney as the club’s record points-scorer, and Patrick Richard.