Breakers keep the dream alive

Desperation mode suits the Breakers, with Kevin Braswell’s men surviving another must-win shootout in Auckland yesterday to keep their NBL playoff hopes alive.

This was a big one too, with the Breakers’ 109-96 victory over the fourth-placed Brisbane Bullets a double-banger as it significantly closed the gap among the four teams fighting for what appears to be one playoff spot.

The Breakers, with this second straight win, improve to 10-12 and now have that fourth spot in their sights. Andrej Lemanis’ Bullets drop to 12-11, the same mark as the Adelaide 36ers, with the Illawarra Hawks also in the race on 11-12.

It shapes as a battle royale for that final playoff spot over the final three weeks of the regular season and the Breakers are now well and truly back in the tussle.

After being carried by Shawn Long, Tai Wesley and Jarrad Weeks in recent weeks, there was a better spread of scoring in this crucial matchup, with five double-figure contributors in a solid all-round effort.

The dynamic Long once again paced the Breakers with 23 points (8/14 FG, 2/2 3PT), 6 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and Weeks hit double-figures for the 11th time in the last 13 games with an important 20 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting.

But it was Finn Delany (17 points, all in the second half, to go with 4 boards and 5 assists) and Patrick Richard (16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists) who came up big for the Breakers in the second half when things got a bit tight.

Delany put in a massive shift for the Breakers, with 10 of his points coming late in the third quarter right when his team had coughed up the lead, and the all-important momentum. His energy literally dragged his side over the line as he made 7 of his 9 shots in an inspired display.

The Breakers got a massive 60 points off their bench (53 shared by Weeks, Delany and Richard), shot an impressive 54 percent from the floor and 46 from deep and, for once, came out on the right side of the foul equation, taking 16 more free-throws than their opponents.

They were also a lot better in the clutch. When it got tight they responded, and this kept their playoff hopes alive.

‘‘We’ve learned from our mistakes, especially the last few weeks,’’ Braswell said. ‘‘Illawarra and Cairns were losses we learned a lot from. A lot of guys stepped up.’’