Brilliant Breakers defy odds
Mody Maor walked into the locker room at halftime of the sudden-death NBL playin game in front of nearly 18,000 fans at Qudos Bank Arena, with the Breakers down nine against the back-to-back champions, and thought to himself: “We got this.”
That almost inordinate calm and sense of faith in his banged-up players paid dividends when the Breakers produced one of their great post-season performances in an 83-76 victory over the Sydney Kings that was achieved against the odds and all expectations.
Now, the challenge for Maor and the Breakers is to do it again in a matchup of identical stakes at the Illawarra Hawks on Monday, with the winner advancing to a best-of-three semifinal series against minor premiers Melbourne United.
The trick will be, can a wounded squad continue to overcome the odds?
“Man, these guys are so tough,” reflected Maor after a victory in which his team trailed by 13 at one stage and 47-38 at halftime. Remarkably, with Will McDowell-White playing through the pain of a shoulder injury and import forward Zylan Cheatham on one leg (after rolling his ankle right on halftime), they kept the Kings to 29 second-half points and denied the Sydneysiders their dreams of a threepeat.
And the Breakers did it all with all-NBL first teamer, and ex-NBA standout, Anthony Lamb back in Auckland nursing his ruptured Achilles.
“They care about all the right things,” Maor said. “They care about each other and they’re battle-tested because this season has been tough. We’ve seen everything and been through everything.
“Once I walked into the locker room at halftime I knew we were winning the game because there was no sign of anything but determination and being focused on the task.”
Asked post-game what from the performance made him most proud, Maor said: “I’m really proud of the fact that when things were the most important we did things exactly the way we want to do them. We were very true to our identity on both sides of the court.
“That’s the foundation that carries you through a tough environment, and tough games. That’s huge for us.”
Not that Maor doesn’t have a little to fret about as the Breakers remain in New South Wales – they were headed to Bondi for some recovery – to prepare for Monday’s further stride down the playoff tightrope.
Perhaps he’s concerned about how his best player – and maybe No 1 in the entire league – Parker Jackson-Cartwright repeats the heroics of the 34-point performance that was fuelled by pundit, and former league MVP, Derek Rucker ranking him No 7 on the NBL pecking order.
He needn’t worry about that. Jackson-Cartwright made it more than clear yesterday that he’s hit reset and is ready to lead his team again in Wollongong.
And if he needs more motivation, well, there’s clearly no shortage of it in Australia, where the Breakers tend to be treated with a mix of indifference and disrespect.
Of nore concern will be the physical states of McDowell-White and Cheatham, who gave superb back-up to Jackson-Cartwright in Sydney. McDowell-White, playing through gritted teeth, had 11 points and 5 dimes in 24 minutes; Cheatham, hobbling throughout the second half, added 18 points, four boards and a trio of steals.
“I never had a doubt Will would play,” said Maor in reference to a suspected shoulder dislocation his Aussie guard suffered in the regular season finale. “What capacity and how good, I didn’t know. He was awesome. I’ve got guys I can trust, and it’s fun.”
On Cheatham: “I didn’t want to play him in the second half and he wouldn’t even listen to me. When I asked if he can play, he pushed me off and walked away. This is the kind of person he is, the kind of competitor he is.
“For a guy with his athletic ability to still have a winning impact when he can barely run and jump shows so much of the other qualities he has: toughness, IQ, competitiveness, the passing and other stuff he brings to the table. Not a bad game from the kid.”
Cheatham, for his part, has no doubt he will be good to go on Monday, no matter how much his ankle swells up in the next few days.
“Seeing the stuff we’ve been through, the injuries we’ve had, man, there was nothing that was going to stop me playing that game,” he said of Wednesday night. As for Monday? “I’m confident I’ll be all right.”