Breakers prove title credentials with big win over Adelaide 36ers
The New Zealand Breakers have shown they are genuine title contenders with an 88-72 away win against the Adelaide 36ers last night.
The visitors never really looked under threat, leading for 35.54 minutes of a game played in front of a full house in Adelaide, with the 36ers fighting for their lives on the back of defeat in Wollongong two nights ago.
Urged by head coach Gordie Herbert to be aggressive from the outset, the Breakers were fastest out of the blocks, led by two former 36ers in Mojave King (playing his 100th NBL game) and DJ Vasiljevic, who had eight and 10 points respectively, going a combined four of six from deep to help the visitors to a 23-19 first-quarter lead.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright then flexed his considerable all-round offensive game in the second quarter, with 16 points scored in every way you can think of and with Vasiljevic and Kouat Noi both draining triples, the lead was six at halftime and the home fans were getting a little edgy.
Adelaide are too good a team not to make a run, and it came in the third, led by Bryce Cotton’s eight points and big man Nick Rakocevic in the paint, Adelaide led at times and entered the final quarter down 60-57 and well within touching distance.
But the Breakers took control, totally dominating the final quarter, with the irrepressible Jackson-Cartwright finishing one rebound short of a rare NBL triple-double, forcing large numbers of the capacity crowd to head for the carpark a little earlier than they might have hoped.
The heart of this Breakers team had great support, with Sam Mennenga showing his extensive skill set in bringing the ball up the floor and banging bodies with the Adelaide big men to finish with a hard-earned 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists on six of 11 shooting.
Vasiljevic and King shot superbly from deep for 18 and 15 points respectively on a combined seven of 13 from three. Carlin Davison was again a presence at both ends of the floor, with a memorable alley-oop on an inbounds play, one of many daggers thrust by the Breakers into the Adelaide faithful.
Noi was also productive from the bench in his best outing of the season as he continues to emerge after pre-season injury concerns to contribute eight points and four rebounds, including two of three from deep.
While much of the attention will be on the offensive effort, King led a team effort shutdown of multiple league MVP winner Cotton, reducing the 36ers point guard to 19 points on eight of 18 shooting – and crucially five turnovers.
The Breakers move to 3-2 on the season and head home today for two days, before hitting the road to Perth on Thursday ahead of a run of four further road games before their next home game against the 36ers at Spark Arena on October 30.
BNZ Breakers 88: Parker Jackson-Cartwright – 27 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds; Mojave King – 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4/8 3PT; DJ Vasiljevic – 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3/5 3PT; Sam Mennenga – 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists; Kouat Noi – 8 points, 4 rebounds
Adelaide 36ers 72: Nick Rakocevic – 29 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Bryce Cotton 19 points, 6 assists; John Jenkins III – 8 points, 3 rebounds; Zylan Cheatham – 8 points, 5 assists; Isaac White – 6 points, 3 rebounds