Breakers 94
Taipans 77
A blazing three-point shooting display from a player who has been missing for much of the season carried the Breakers to a comfortable victory over Cairns Taipans on the North Shore last night.
And no, it wasn't Kirk Penney.
Oscar Forman's early season contribution was, to put it kindly, limited,
as he struggled to find his shooting stroke.
But the lanky Australian had been warming up nicely recently, with 18-point hauls in the victories over Perth and Townsville.
Last night he finally caught fire, pouring in 23 points, including seven-of-11 three-pointers, and pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
With Penney coming through unscathed in his much-awaited return after nine matches out with a back injury, the return of Forman as a perimeter shooting threat was a case of double delight for a Breakers side that has languished near the foot of the league in three-point shooting percentage.
"Ossie has played well the last three games," coach Andrej Lemanis said.
"There is a confidence back in his game. When he is rebounding it is always a good indicator for us that Oscar is feeling good about how he is going."
The immediate effect of Penney's return was perhaps most notable in the display of his team-mates.
The Breakers held a five-point advantage at halftime, thanks largely to an 8/14 three-point shooting display. No fewer than six Breakers connected from long range in the half and, somewhat remarkably, Penney wasn't one of them.
"Kirk attracts a lot of attention," Lemanis said. "He is aggressive to the rim and the opens up a lot of opportunities for other people."
Penney chipped in five first half points but, after a tight opening half, it was Forman who broke the game open with three consecutive threes in a 14-0 Breakers run..
Forman fouled out mid-way through the final quarter three-points shy of his career-best 26 but Penney came off the bench and immediately nailed his first three of the night.
The reigning MVP added another brace of threes to finish with 22 points from 20min 45sec of court time.
"I'm just rapt to be out there playing again," he said.
Despite attracting several hard fouls he suffered no soreness in his troublesome back.
"I feel great. Thankfully the boys had been giving me a few knocks this week so I was pretty confident I'd be okay. After a few days they got more comfortable with me and stopped treating me like I was made of paper."
The Taipans rolled the Breakers in Cairns just eight days ago but they were second best by a distance last night. The win took the Breakers to 6-1 at home and 7-6 on the season, lifting them above the Blaze into fourth place.
They play Wollongong next Thursday before a visit by Perth the following week completes a three-game home-stand.