Assist record falls as Breakers light up Ignite Cup
Steve Barrett |
The New Zealand Breakers have lit up the inaugural Ignite Cup, thumping the Illawarra Hawks by 29 points to leave the reigning champions’ title defence in tatters.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright set a new assist record – 17 – in the 40-minute era (2009-10 onwards), as the Breakers thrashed the Hawks 117-88.
Diminutive import Jackson-Cartwright paired 17 assists with 20 points at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Wednesday, while Sam Mennenga (18) and Karim Lopez (16) as the Breakers (1-4) claimed the inaugural fixture of the competition.
The previous individual assist record in the current era was 15, jointly held by Melbourne’s Nate Tomlinson in 2013 and Cairns’ Tahjere McCall in 2023. The NBL’s all-time record is 24 by Derek Rucker for Newcastle in 1994, when games went for 48 minutes.
NZ won each quarter, giving them the perfect start to the league’s new in-season tournament, which has a quarter-by-quarter scoring system and a total prize pool of $400,000. Tyler Harvey (22 points) and JaVale McGee (19) led the charge for the struggling Hawks (0-3).
“It’s something I’ve been waiting for,” Breakers coach Petteri Koponen said.
“Just proud and happy. It was really enjoyable basketball.
“(It’s) not every day we’re going to shoot this well but this is the identity we’ve been looking for.”
NZ were on song from the outset, taking advantage of Illawarra’s porous defence and plethora of turnovers to open a 30-24 quarter-time lead.
Mennenga buried three triples in the second term as the Breakers knocked down seven of their first 10 from long range to steam ahead 53-38.
McGee spearheaded an 11-0 Hawks burst to trim the gap to four points, but the big fella’s brain-fade with 0.7 seconds remaining in the half – an unsportsmanlike foul as he grabbed Rob Loe and tossed him aside – cost the visitors.
Harvey’s last-second bucket was overturned and Loe nailed two free throws at the other end to close the half.
Jackson-Cartwright hit a foul shot in the third term to make it an 8-0 run for 61-49, after fired-up Illawarra coach Justin Tatum was handed a technical foul as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
NZ won the third period 27-23 before blowing the Hawks away 30-16 in the fourth.
The Breakers unleashed a 17-0 spree down the stretch, capped by Mennenga’s vicious left-handed tomahawk off Jackson-Cartwright’s 17th assist.
“New Zealand shot the ball well,” Tatum said. “They shot way better than they did in their first four games.
“That’s going to kill any team. My guys are figuring it out.”
AAP
