Basketball: Breakers' best shot at playoffs still to come

The Breakers need to secure at least eight wins from their last 10 games to secure a spot in the Australian Basketball league playoffs.

The team went down to table leaders Sydney Kings 99-109 on Friday night in Sydney, then lost to fourth-placed West Sydney Razorbacks 82-98 on Saturday.

With only six wins from 23 matches, the Breakers are 11th in the 12-team competition.

But they can still make the top-eight playoffs provided they pick up at least eight more wins.

And they will not get a better opportunity - their next six games are at home against teams in the bottom half of the ladder.

The Breakers play the 10th-placed Townsville Crocodiles on Wednesday night in Christchurch and in Auckland on Saturday.

They then face the 12th-placed Hunter Pirates, followed by the ninth-placed Perth Wildcats (twice) and then the eighth-placed Victoria Giants.

Breakers coach Frank Arsego said his team's recent lapse of form was physical and mental.

"We need to get rid of the mental burden," he said. "We need to freshen our body and minds to turn that form around.

"We are struggling a bit with the rigours of the season."

The Breakers pushed the Kings extremely hard and were within range of a huge upset for most of the game, before bowing to the prowess of the home team's stars, Matt Nielsen and Ebi Ere.

The Breakers trailed the Kings 51-49 at halftime.

The Kings edged out to a six-point lead at the three-quarter break but with less than 10 minutes to play, the Breakers levelled the scores at 82-all.

However, they could not stop Nielsen and Ere from securing the win.

Kings captain Nielsen posted an NBL season-high 41 points (equalling the record by Townsville guard Jeremy Veal), and US import Ere was close behind with 37 points.

Against the Razorbacks, the Breakers were without star centre Ben Melmeth, who has been struggling with a foot injury. His presence was missed as the Razorbacks got off to a quick start, leading 14-3 after only three minutes.

Through Aaron Olson, Dillon Boucher, Lindsay Tait and Blake Truslove, the Breakers fought back and trailed their opponents by just 22-20 at the first break.

But the Razorbacks soon found their rhythm and extended their lead to 50-42 at halftime and 72-64 at three-quarter time, before winning comfortably.

"I thought we gave a great account for ourselves against the Sydney Kings," Arsego said.

"But against the Razorbacks we learned what was needed to play well back-to-back against top teams."