Breakers dim final hopes
The Taipans’ finals dreams are hanging by a thread as the club will face mustwin games for the rest of the NBL season if they want to force their way into the top four. A rested New Zealand never gave Cairns a chance to get into the game yesterday afternoon as the Breakers started with an aggressive intent which flowed for four quarters.
THE Taipans’ finals dreams are hanging by a thread as the club will face must-win games for the rest of the NBL season if they want to force their way into the top four.
A rested New Zealand never gave Cairns a chance to get into the game yesterday afternoon as the Breakers started with an aggressive intent which flowed for four quarters.
After starting the season red hot, the Breakers had put together some indifferent form of late but returned to the type of basketball that will see them be contenders come playoff time.
On the other hand, the Taipans were plagued by silly defensive lapses in the first half that handed the hosts easy buckets and they could not claw their way back.
The finals equation is pretty simple for the Snakes from here: win every game and hope a few teams in the top four start to stutter.
Cairns, who are now 9-12 and sixth on the ladder, have just two games in the Far North for the rest of the regular season, with five games to play on the road.
They will need to have a dramatic road form turnaround if they are to be a chance of forcing their way in, winning just twice from nine attempts away from Cairns so far this season.
One massive positive for the Snakes on a poor day was centre Nate Jawai’s return for his first appearance in orange since Round 1 as he was injected into the game late in the first term.
The star big man wasted little time getting involved as he led a pair of defensive stops before completing a three-point play shortly after.
After trailing by as much as 17, Cairns brought the deficit back to five in the fourth term but could not get any closer.
“I think the start really hurt us,” skipper Cameron Gliddon said. “It really let us down.
“It was not our night ... but we will get back to it.”
The Snakes, who looked tired from their victory over Brisbane just two days earlier, were ice cold from the field as they shot at just 32 per cent as well as 28 per cent from deep.
The Kiwis were on fire from the outset as they drilled six of their first seven attempts.
While many of the starters battled to get going, import Jerry Evans Jr lifted the energy of the team when he came in from the bench, providing 17 points and nine rebounds.
Guard Mitch McCarron did not have his best offensive night but still found a way to contribute with five assists and a career-high 15 boards.