Breakers grind out NBL win over Melbourne

Fraser Barton | January 28, 2023

New Zealand Breakers are in the hunt for an automatic NBL semi-final berth with just two games remaining following a second-half blitz to snap Melbourne United’s five-game winning streak.

The Breakers trailed for the majority of Saturday’s contest in Auckland but frequently found their way to the free-throw line in the back end of the match and ultimately registered an 80-74 victory.

New Zealand got to the stripe six times in the third term and had 22 free throw attempts through 30 minutes of play.

With the score at 51-47 and their home crowd firing up, Mody Maor’s side went on a 17-5 run either side of the third and fourth terms to earn their first lead of the game and leverage a lead too large for Melbourne to chase down.

Rob Loe (15 points) had a huge part in their comeback, nailing timely three-pointers after his side struggled from beyond the arc early on.

Jarrell Brantley (18 points) also continued his purple patch of form and gave New Zealand the lead by three-quarter time before Izayah Le’afa and Loe rattled home three-pointers to begin the fourth quarter.

Brantley stuffed Rayjon Tucker at the rim in a momentum-shifting block with Melbourne’s late game threes not enough as New Zealand held on to finish their NBL home games with a 7-7 record. 

United now need results to go their way for a chance to make the inaugural play-in tournament with one game remaining against Adelaide next week.

Dean Vickerman’s side enjoyed a nine-point lead at quarter-time behind some jitters from the hosts offensively and putting the clamps on at the defensive end.

New Zealand shot just 22 per cent through 10 minutes, making only four field goals as they struggled against the tall timbers of Marcus Lee and Isaac Humphries in the paint.

The Breakers had a clear plan defensively to run United’s sharpshooters off the perimeter but that led to easy back-door cuts and 16 points in the paint, Tucker leading the way with seven points in the first quarter.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Chris Goulding sparked a mini-run for United as their margin grew to 11 midway through the second term but Will Mcdowell-White and Loe combined on three consecutive possessions forcing Vickerman into a timeout.

After starting 0-7 from behind the arc, Jarrell Brantley hit New Zealand’s first three-pointer to trim the deficit and the Breakers trailed by just four at the half.

The Breakers face Illawarra and Brisbane on the road to end finish their season.