Slam dunk: Melmeth comeback likely this month

The New Zealand Breakers hope to have star centre Ben Melmeth back on the court this month.

The 2.10m Australian has missed the last six games with a thigh injury which has required complete rest over the past month.

But Melmeth has received a clearance this week from the Breakers medical team to resume training on November 17. The aim is for him to play some part in the side's home encounter against the West Sydney Razorbacks at the North Shore Events Centre on November 22.

Melmeth, a former Australian international with more than 60 appearances for the national side, was among the top scorers and rebounders in the NBL in his first two appearances.

The tip-off time for the encounter on November 22 has been brought forward to 3.10pm, because the Rugby World Cup final kicks off in Sydney later that evening.

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Phill Jones credits a two-hour hit- out by himself as part of the reason for his outstanding shooting performance for the Breakers on Saturday night.

Jones was named as the Australian NBL's player of the week after his 38-point haul in the Breakers' 93-91 win over Cairns.

Jones top-scored for the Breakers with 16 points in the loss to the north Queenslanders in Wellington on Friday night.

Because the Breakers returned to Auckland the following day to play the Taipans again that night, there was not the usual pre-game morning shoot-around for the team. So Jones headed to the North Shore Events Centre by himself and threw up jump shot after jump shot.

Jones went on to make 13 of his 18 attempts from the field, for an impressive 72 per cent success rate, including four of six three-point attempts. He also shot eight from 10 from the free-throw line.

His points total was the second highest in a game this season, behind the 40 compiled by Liberty Victoria Giants import Adam Ballinger in round two.

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Head coach Jeff Green faces a tough decision about who to start as point guard against the Bullets.

Paul Henare has been the regular starter for the Breakers this season with back-up from combination guard Aaron Olson.

But young tyro Lindsay Tait put in an outstanding performance in the win over the Taipans to put the heat on the more experienced duo. Tait played 22 minutes for nine points, four assists, one steal and no turnovers and was the spark off the bench as the Breakers overcame a big second-quarter deficit to win their second game of the season.

Swingman Dillon Boucher features in two top-10 categories of the NBL statistics after five rounds.

Boucher ranks fourth in steals with 2.3 per game and eighth in assists with five per game.