Breakers bag game one of NBL grand final

AUCKLAND, April 12 NZN – The New Zealand Breakers talked up their depth after overcoming the loss of one of their best players to beat Perth in overtime in game one of the NBL finals series in Auckland on Thursday night.

The Breakers surrendered a 15-point halftime lead at Vector Arena before drawing first blood in the best-of-three series with a 104-98 victory in dramatic fashion after the Wildcats mounted a spirited second-half comeback.

Cedric Jackson was top-scorer for the Breakers with 25 points, along with eight assists, while CJ Bruton chimed in off the bench with 20 points.

Kevin Lisch led the Wildcats with 27 points and seven assists, and Matthew Knight also shone with 17 points.

The Breakers held on despite being without NBL All-Star Thomas Abercrombie, whose couldn’t overcome an ankle injury suffered last week.

“That’s what finals basketball should be about,” coach Andrej Lemanis said.

“What a showcase for the NBL.”

The Breakers overcame Abercrombie’s absence through numerous players contributing more, especially from Bruton and fellow bench players Dillon Boucher and Alex Pledger.

“We talked a lot about him (Abercrombie) not being there and moving on,” Boucher said.

“We had confidence that no matter who was going to step up into his spot, that they were going to do the job.”

All the team stepped up in a tight overtime contest, especially Bruton, who landed a three-pointer to put the Breakers in front and then won a key foul when Lisch charged him as he headed for the basket inside the last minute.

“He (Bruton) loves it, he enjoys making big plays,” Lemanis said.

“But we’re fortunate as a team to have players who want to make those plays. Not everybody wants to make those plays but we’ve got a few guys who do.”

The Wildcats led by six with less than three minutes to play in normal time but coach Rob Beveridge was more disappointed they let the Breakers accumulate a big lead by halftime.

Perth did enough to suggest they have a big chance of taking game two on their home court next Friday.

“We weren’t aggressive at all, particularly in that second quarter. You’ve got to play with an attitude that there is no tomorrow,” Beveridge said.

“We’ll be a lot more consistent with our effort levels in game two. If we don’t we’ll lose the game.”

NZN abu/wk

Publisher: AAPNewswire

13 Apr 8:03 AM