Webster returns to his old homecourt to haunt the Breakers
Everything the Perth Wildcats needed they got. With their backs to the wall, they rebounded better, Brady Manek and Corey Webster came up huge, and the ‘Cats pulled off the upset 92-84 road win over the New Zealand Breakers.
The Wildcats arrived at Spark Arena on Saturday night fresh off losing in overtime to the shorthanded Brisbane Bullets on Thursday.
It was a mighty task ahead of them, too, up against a Breakers team sitting on top of the table on a five-game winning streak and having hammered the South East Melbourne Phoenix themselves on Thursday.
Pressure was mounting on Perth having lost seven of the last nine, and New Zealand were on top most of the way in the first half limiting Bryce
Cotton to the one field goal, and still being on top by four at the major break.
But the Wildcats then delivered their best half of basketball of the season and it came right at the most important time for NBL23.
It was Webster who lit it up in spectacular fashion in the third quarter. He scored 16 individual points in his first ever game in 249 NBL appearances playing against the Breakers or in Auckland on a visiting team.
That put the Wildcats in front and it was Manek who closed the deal with three massive triples in the opening stages of the fourth. The ‘Cats led by 12 with five minutes to play as a result and went on to win by eight.
Webster was always going to come up with something special in his first ever NBL game against the Breakers. He torched his former team in the third quarter on his way to 26 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals on 10/17 shooting while also icing the game late.
The loss for New Zealand was their first in six NBL games with Barry Brown Jr top-scoring once more with 27 points.
Breakers coach Mody Maor felt his team never got up to the level at any point in the game that they have been playing at.
“We didn’t play our game at all today. Even when we were up, it wasn’t us,” Maor said.
“We’re a good basketball team, we can be up when we play average too but we never played the way we want to play.
“There was an air of complacency and at some point it’s going to come, and to click, but that’s not how this works. It’s a good lesson for us.”
— Supplied content