Good defence often leads to confident offence, and that notion rings true for the New Zealand Breakers.
After blowing out the highly-touted Adelaide 36ers across the Tasman on Thursday night, the Breakers returned home to repeat the dose in a 94-62 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.
A performance led bysome stoic defensive work early, there were plenty of similarities between the results that give fans of the team reasons to be excited.
After struggling with three-point shooting all season, the Breakers appear to have discovered some touch from long range, shooting at above 40 per cent from beyond the three-point line for just the second time this year. The other time they reached that mark was the win over Adelaide.
As has become standard for Mody Maor’s team early in the season, there were contributions across the floor. Barry Brown Jr continued to establish himself as the early front-runner for sixth man of the year through his volume scoring, Dererk Pardon used his size and strength to great effect, while Jarrell Brantley and Will McDowell-White were again big contributors across the board.
What is most impressive over the last two games, however, is the teams they have been putting 20-plus-point beatings on. Adelaide came into the season as one of the favourites to win the title, a tag that only grew after they beat the NBA’s Phoenix Suns in a preseason encounter. While Tasmania don’t have the same depth in their squad as Adelaide, they have started the season on a tear, winning four games in a row coming into Sunday’s game to sit third on the ladder.
The Breakers are playing with confidence, and that has shown in their play. Against the JackJumpers, it was a case of pressuring their opponents on the defensive end and trusting their shooting would come as the game progressed.
It wasn’t pretty basketball early as both sides struggled for points. In the first half, the shooting statistics for both teams were dreary, particularly from the three-point line where both were sinking their attempts at a 25 per cent rate.
The Breakers did however go into the break with a 33-25 lead as neither team scored more than 17 points in a quarter through the opening 20 minutes.
That changed in the third stanza, as the Breakers began to take over proceedings. Outscoring Tasmania 61-37 in the second half, the Breakers lifted their three-point shooting to 43 per cent to improve their record to 6-2 early in the year.
NZ Breakers 94 (Barry Brown Jr 24 points, Dererk Pardon 15, Will McDowell-White 14)
Tasmania Jackjumpers 62 (Milton Doyle 22, Jack McVeigh 11)
