NZ Breakers Get Back on Track in Preseason Event
Breakers bounce back
The New Zealand Breakers have bounced back from their first-up defeat at the Sunshine State Challenge to score a comfortable 77-57 win over the Cairns Taipans in Ipswich on Saturday night.
The Breakers defence held the Taipans to just 21 points combined for the second and third quarters in a dominant display by the reigning NBL champions.
Gary Wilkinson led the Breakers with 22 points, while BJ Anthony added 11 and Alex Pledger had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Brad Hill was the best for the Taipans with 18 points, while Andrew Warren was the only other Cairns player in double-figures with 14.
Across the first three periods, the Breakers outscored Cairns 60-35.
New Zealand dominated the rebound count with a decisive 49-28 advantage.
The NZ Breakers have fallen hard 94-74 to the Sydney Kings in their opening game of the Australian NBL pre-season tournament on the Gold Coast.
Trailing by four points at halftime, the defending champion Breakers were out-scored 22-12 in the third period and trailed by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter at The Southport School, before ending the game on a 10-2 run.
American centre Gary Wilkinson connected on 4-of-5 three-point attempts to top-score for the Breakers with 16 points on 6-of-13 overall shooting, while Tall Blacks forward Benny Anthony finished with 11 points. Import Jerai Grant led a balanced Kings offence with a game-high 22 points, while four other players scored in double digits.
The stats told a sorry tale for the Breakers, who committed 23 turnovers, allowed 46 points in the paint and were out-rebounded 41-32. The Breakers shot 41 percent from the field and 38 percent on three-point attempts, behind the Kings in both categories.
The Breakers led early thanks to a hot start by Wilkinson but eventually trailed by five points after a quarter.
The result dropped the Breakers to 2-1 in pre-season, following two wins over the Wollongong Hawks in Hamilton and Tauranga last week. The Breakers face the Cairns Taipans in a grand final series repeat in Ipswich tomorrow night at 9pm (NZ time), with a classification game scheduled for Saturday.
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