Jackson-Cartwright stars to lead Breakers to win
With great power comes great responsibility. Throughout the NBL season, Breakers import point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright has been a star — using his speed with ball in hand, ability to accelerate without notice, shooting touch and pure hustle to impact winning.
With last night’s game against the Hawks a vital stop on their journey if it is to continue into the playoffs, he showed the way.
Jackson-Cartwright scored 31 points to lead the Breakers to an 88-85 win at Spark Arena — a result that lifted the side from seventh to fourth on the NBL ladder.
Such is the theme of this season’s competition. With only three of the league’s 10 teams boasting a winning record in the penultimate week of the regular season, small margins will decide how the playoffs shape up.
The clash with the Hawks was the Breakers’ first since losing Anthony Lamb for the rest of the season to an Achilles tendon injury, and there were questions coming in to the contest as to who would pick up the additional consistent scoring role alongside Jackson-Cartwright.
Will McDowell-White didn’t wait long to quell those concerns.
Inserted into the starting line-up with Lamb absent, McDowell-White started strongly both as the primary ball-handler alongside JacksonCartwright and a scoring threat.
The Breakers began with back-toback baskets from distance but the Hawks soon found their way into the contest. Neither team gained a meaningful lead in the period, but a late three from Justin Robinson put the Hawks ahead at the end of a tense stanza.
Mantas Rubstavicius got the hosts going in the second period, looking more confident with every game and flashing a much-needed shooting touch. He does, however, have a tendency to let emotion get the better of him at times, and a couple of frustration fouls saw him benched late in the half.
It was a familiar story for the Breakers as they trailed by one at halftime. The hosts were shooting significantly better than the Hawks, making 45 per cent of their shots to Illawarra’s 36, but they allowed the Hawks to take 13 shots from the free throw line, making nine. The Breakers earned only three (making two), which kept the Hawks ahead as Illawarra big man Sam Froling snuck in for a lay-up on the buzzer.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man. After some early baskets from McDowell-White, Mangok Mathiang and Izayah Le’afa, JacksonCartwright took over.
Scoring 10 points in the third quarter, then eight in the fourth, JacksonCartwright led the side to a crucial win and — for now — a hosting spot in the play-in round.
NZ Breakers 88 (Parker JacksonCartwright 31 points, Will McDowellWhite 16)
Illawarra Hawks 85 (Tyler Harvey 22 points, Sam Froling 16)
1Q: 18-21. HT: 41-42. 3Q: 68-61.