Breakers still in playoff hunt
Somehow, some way the New Zealand Breakers’ ANBL season still has a heartbelt.
After squandering a 17-point first-half lead with a third-quarter shocker, the Breakers came up clutch in the final period to snatch a vital 88-87 victory in a nail-biter at the Adelaide 36ers last night.
It was a game that meant nothing to the now 17-9 36ers who sealed the minor premiership a good few rounds back. And it was a game that meant the world to the Breakers who are now 13-14 and in with a rough chance of sneaking into the top four if they can beat Melbourne in their season finale at the NSEC next Friday night.
The Kiwis will need a few other results to go their way, but they still at least have a shot. Given the season they’ve had, and that calamitous last round when they lost twice, and saw import Akil Mitchell nearly lose an eye, it’s probably all they can ask for.
After leading all the way through the first half (49-45 at the major break), Paul Henare’s men looked like they had gifted the game to the league leaders via a 27-12 third quarter in which the Kiwi club just couldn’t take a trick.
When that 11-point advantage grew to 13 early in the final period, as skipper Miuka Vukona fouled out with a couple of technicals to boot, you wouldn’t have given tuppence for the Breakers’ chances.
But they hung tough over the run home, with leading scorers Kevin Dillard and Kirk Penney making just enough shots, and free-throws, to keep their team in the hunt, and big men Rob Loe and Alex Pledger emerging as unlikely heroes for their club.
Penney finished with a gamehigh 21 points (7/16 FG, 3/7 3PT) and Dillard was right behind him with 20 (5/14 FG, 3/5 3PT), including three huge free-throws with 1:10 left that tired the game at 84-84. But the contributions of Loe (15 points, four rebounds and five assists) and Pledger (nine points and 14 rebounds) could not be discounted.
It was Loe’s backing in hook shot that gave the Breakers the lead (86-84) with 51s remaining, and it was Pledger’s huge rebound that sealed the victory after both Daniel Johnson and Jerome Randle had missed chances to level the contest at the death.
Johnson paced the 36ers with 19 points and six boards, and Randle had a relatively quiet 16, but for the most part the Breakers did an effective job of containing that dangerous Adelaide offence.
That they did it without import forward Mitchell, who wasn’t well enough to play after his eye issues, was even more meritorious for the Kiwi club as they chase a sixth playoff appearance in seven years.