KEY POINTS:
Coach Andrej Lemanis says the Breakers need to play with the intensity they showed in the second half of their loss to the South Dragons to have any chance of winning the Australian National Basketball League.
The Breakers came back from 19 points down at halftime to be four down with nine minutes to play, but could not finish the comeback and went down 101-94 to the table toppers.
The loss puts the Breakers three games behind the Dragons and two behind the second-placed Melbourne Tigers with four regular season games to go, meaning they will almost certainly miss out on a top-two playoff spot.
This means they will have to face another opponent in a one-off final match to earn a best-of-three semifinal against the Tigers or Dragons.
Lemanis said his team should have realised games would get more physical close to the playoffs.
"The Dragons played as a team that was desperate and we didn't play with that same desperation, which was disappointing," Lemanis said after Thursday's game on the North Shore.
"Obviously the change we made and the energy we brought in the second half was better but at the end of the day we didn't win the game."
The Dragons scored the first 10 points of the game, meaning the Breakers had to play catch-up from the beginning. The visitors' defence was particularly effective on leading Breakers scorer Kirk Penney, who did not score a point until well into the third quarter.
"Against a good team in this league, if you give them 20 points it's too much," said Breakers top-scorer Phill Jones.
"You spend all your energy fighting to get back into the game and then when it comes down to the wire you find your legs are a bit weary."
Lemanis thought the second half comeback should show his team the way forward into the playoffs.
"I think what was positive is that we showed ourselves that's how we need to play in order to make a run at this thing. That's the level, and now it's up to us to choose whether we want to play that way or not," he said.
"Right now we need to build some momentum going into the playoffs regardless of where we finish."
Lemanis was still confident the Breakers could beat any team in the league, and South Dragons coach Brian Goorjian said he still regarded the Breakers as a title contender, though he thought the fitness of point guard CJ Bruton was key.
Bruton has played the past five games at about 70 to 80 per cent fitness after an ankle injury and the Breakers' offence has not run so well without him.
"They were really in sync and really rolling and right now it's key that he [Bruton] gets to full health because all roads lead through him," Goorjian said.
"They're in it with a real good shot and I don't think they let themselves down tonight. I thought it was a playoff final and I thought it was anybody's game with nine minutes to go."
Goorjian said his team knew it was likely the Breakers would make a run at some stage and he was delighted at how they kept their nerve once the home team got within four.
The Dragons' victory takes them to 19 wins and keeps them a win clear of the Tigers at the top of the NBL with four games to go.
The Breakers are 16 wins, one win clear of the Perth Wildcats and the Townsville Crocodiles in third place. Their remaining games include a home match against the Cairns Taipans and three away matches against the Wollongong Hawks, the Adelaide 36ers and the Sydney Spirit, all teams in the bottom half of the table.
- NZPA
