Basketball: New Zealand Breakers claim big win over Tasmania JackJumpers to move one win away from NBL Grand Final

Izayah Le'Afa of the Breakers leaps towards the basket as Will Magnay of the JackJumpers tries to defend. Photosport

The New Zealand Breakers are one win away from competing for another NBL championship.

In their first playoff appearance in five years, the Breakers took the opening game in their best-of-three semifinal series against the Tasmania JackJumpers, seeing off the visitors 88-68 at Spark Arena tonight.

A meeting between the league’s two best defensive teams, it always seemed likely that the stage was set for some low scoring, grind-it-out games.

The opening game of the series proved to be just that.

It was a tale of sharing the load for the Breakers, with four players scoring in double digits as they worked around the strong Tasmania defence.

The week off after their final regular season game appeared to do the Breakers plenty of good, as they finally got off to a strong start.

Quick baskets to Will McDowell-White, Rayan Rupert and Dererk Pardon set the tone for the Breakers from the outset. Given their defensive capabilities, running out to a 10-point lead with less than four minutes gone was an ominous sign for the visitors, who struggled to find a way to get on the board.

The Breakers defence frustrated the JackJumpers early, as the visitors were twice called for travels in the opening quarter. However, the visitors began to find their way inside late in the period to close the gap to seven at quarter-time.

While the Breakers offence started hot, it cooled down very quickly in the second quarter. Not helped by some early foul trouble, the Breakers saw their lead whittled away as JackJumpers big man Rashard Kelly made his presence felt.

The JackJumpers ended the quarter on a 16-3 run, putting themselves back in the fight with just a two-point differential at halftime.

Whatever coach Mody Maor said to his team at the break appeared to have resonated with the Breakers, as they opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run.

While the JackJumpers continued to hang around, a couple of three-pointers at important moments in the quarter saw the hosts hold onto the buffer they had created, and they closed out the quarter strong to hold a nine-point lead.

They kept that going into the fourth period, pushing the lead out to 15 with just over six minutes left in the contest.

If the Jackjumpers were going to steal home court advantage, with the next game of the series being played in Tasmania, they needed to make something happen quickly.

Instead, it seemed neither team could find a way to get the scoreboard ticking over. The score stayed stagnant for more than two minutes before the Breakers continued to push their lead out.

Ultimately, the hosts closed out the win and will look to close out the series on enemy soil on Thursday.

NZ Breakers 88 (Dererk Pardon 15 points, Will McDowell-White 13, Rayan Rupert 10, Barry Brown Jr 11)

Tasmania JackJumpers 68 (Rashard Kelly 12, Milton Doyle 10)

1Q: 19-12. HT: 39-37. 3Q: 65-54.