Coach lauds character as NZ helps provide giant stride to
At the start of the fourth quarter on Friday night at a raucous Spark Arena the Breakers’ season teetered on the brink. The Illawarra Hawks rattled off 13 points to turn a seven-point deficit into a 74-68 lead.
After the week the Kiwi club had had, losing their leading scorer and rebounder to a season-ending Achilles rupture, a run like that had the potential to drop heads, sink spirits and kill off the fight.
Instead, coach Mody Maor called a timeout, spat out a few well-chosen words, and watched as his group delivered a response that not only eked out a vital 88-85 victory (their fourth in five), but surged them up the standings with just three games remaining.
That the next outing was a shortturnaround visit to league leaders Melbourne United for the second half of a gruelling trans-Tasman double just made what unfolded at Spark even more important. At 12-13 the fifth-placed Breakers still have work to do as they duel with the 13-14 Brisbane Bullets, 12-13 Hawks and 12-14 Sydney Kings for fourth through sixth in the playoff picture.
But they are in the fight heading to today’s testing assignment in Melbourne (4pm tip NZT), with two wins from three (Brisbane at home and Adelaide away round out next weekend) likely enough to seal the all-important fourth spot.
“We knew there were challenges stepping into this game,” said Maor of closing out without ex-NBA standout Anthony Lamb. “Different lineups, different positions, different covers … we played our way most of the game, missed some shots, didn’t get to the free-throw line, and had good possessions that didn’t end with the kill. But the ball was moving, players were moving, and I was happy with a lot of stuff we did. The biggest part, and this was testament to the guys’ character, was how we responded at the end when Illawarra went on a run. Our guys came out with three stops in a row – big effort plays on defence that led to easy points. We understand what winning is going to look like, and everybody is on board with how we need to play.”
That response featured steely defence, timely steals, a crucial five-point cameo from a clearly out-of-sorts Finn Delany, plenty of game hero Parker JacksonCartwright who rattled off six points and an assist in an 8-0 run that turned a threepoint deficit with three minutes remaining into a five-point lead into the final minute.
“A lot of discipline in what we do well and just fighting,” said Jackson-Cartwright of what it took to conjure victory. “At this time of the year with the circumstances, we’ve got to fight. They went on a run and how