Basketball: Breakers coach finds some positives in loss

Giving a quality side such as the Sydney Kings an 18-point lead going into the final quarter is not the recipe for victory in the Australian NBL.

That was the New Zealand Breakers' problem as they tumbled to a 93-83 loss to the defending champions at North Shore Events Centre on Saturday night, but coach Frank Arsego was proud of the way his troops battled back from a big deficit for the second successive match.

"I have a philosophy about playing the top teams. You have to build pressure on them," he said.

"Had we been within five points going into the final quarter, we would have set the game up well. But we just didn't shoot well enough to keep the pressure on and that eats away at you."

The Breakers used their advantage on the boards - out-rebounding the Kings 54-46 including 21 offensive boards to eight - to put up 13 more shots.

But they could only convert 36 per cent while the Kings made 45.2 per cent from the field.

"Statistically, we did everything right against the Kings. The only thing was our numbers on the shooting side were a bit down," Arsego added.

Before a packed crowd, the first quarter was evenly fought, veteran David Stiff's buzzer-beating three giving the Kings a 31-27 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The visitors won the next two quarters with Boomers star Matt Nielsen and American import Ebi Ere in outstanding form before the fun and games really started in a frenetic last 12 minutes, the Breakers striving to make up that lost ground.

They managed a 10-0 points run, on the back of a couple of three-pointers from classy import Mike Chappell, got the deficit down to single figures and as low as six points with less than five minutes left, but they could not finish the job.

Chappell led the scoring for the Breakers with 25 points. Melmeth had a big match against his former side with 17 points and 13 boards.

Kings coach Brian Goorjian said he was happy to register a win in front of what he rated as the most exciting crowd of the season.

"The most exciting thing about this game was the atmosphere. Maybe it's a statement to the league about the price of tickets," Goorjian said as the fans took advantage of a $5 Christmas special offer for the encounter.

Goorjian said he had always expected good things from the new Kiwi franchise in its debut season and was confident the Breakers would continue to improve as the season progressed.

"They've got as much talent and depth as anyone in the league," Goorjian said.

"Their depth showed in those latter stages, and we were glad the game didn't go another five minutes because their depth and their rebounding were hurting us.

"There are still plenty of games left for them to make the playoffs."

Ere led all scorers with 29 points for the Kings, and Nielsen showed why he's a frontrunner for this season's MVP award with 25 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Breakers now head to Townsville to meet the Crocodiles for the first time on Wednesday, still very much in the playoff hunt.

In other games, the Victoria Giants lost 107-95 at home to the West Sydney Razorbacks, who are on a four-game winning run; the Wollongong Hawks saw off the Melbourne Tigers 110-101 in Wollongong; the Brisbane Bullets were too good for the Hunter Pirates 124-107 and the Perth Wildcats beat the Cairns Taipans 104-97 in Perth.