Breakers live up to their name to destroy NBL champions

Chris Pike |

Sam Mennenga finished with 21 points for the Breakers in their huge win over the Hawks.
Sam Mennenga finished with 21 points for the Breakers in their huge win over the Hawks.

It had all the makings of a night for the Illawarra Hawks to get their NBL title defence back on track, but the New Zealand Breakers blew those plans apart with the biggest win of the season, 102-60. 

The Breakers recorded their first road win of the season beating the Hawks by a season-high 42 points at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday night, with Illawarra’s championship defence at a loose end. 

The Breakers hadn’t played since blowing a 24-point lead at home last Thursday to the Brisbane Bullets, but were on a mission to silence the home crowd excited to see Championship Series hero “Davo” Hickey back after an eye injury, and newly arrived import QJ Petersen. 

New Zealand shot out of the blocks with the first eight points and then the last six of the first quarter to be leading 31-18. 

The big men battle was fascinating, with Sam Mennenga having 14 points and five rebounds in the opening half for the Breakers.

JaVale McGee had 13 and eight for the Hawks, but the Breakers remained in control leading 52-34 by the half. 

JaVale McGee of the Hawks .
JaVale McGee had 13 points as the Hawks stumbled to a huge home loss.
(Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)

The third quarter was the most dominant 10 minutes of basketball you’ll see, with the Breakers scoring 27 points themselves to end up leading by 35 while holding Illawarra to 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting with seven turnovers. 

New Zealand cruised to the 42-point win to improve to 3-7 for the season, with Mennenga finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Rob Baker II played his best game for 19 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting. 

Karim Lopez also had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals despite a nasty cut to the face, with Izaiah Brockington adding 12 points, and Parker Jackson-Cartwright 11 points and six assists. 

Illawarra are now 2-5 ahead of a trip to Adelaide on Sunday with McGee not scoring after halftime to end up with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Harvey scored 11 points on 2-of-11 shooting. 

The only positive was Hickey (six points, six assists) and Petersen (four points, 1-of-10) getting through their first games of the season. 

AAP