Basketball: Cameron frantic on the sideline

Breakers forward Pero Cameron reckons his heart rate might just about have returned to normal when his team line up against the Cairns Taipans in their second Australian NBL match tonight.

The Tall Black captain, expected to be out until the middle of this month with knee and foot injuries, paced the sideline frantically as his team-mates edged out the Adelaide 36ers in their debut match at the North Shore Events Centre.

The Breakers led 44-25 after the first quarter, but the Sixers got back in the game through some long-range shots. With 28s to go the score was locked at 110-110, then Ben Melmeth nailed a free throw which secured victory.

"I was shocking," Cameron said. "But it was such a great game. We had so many great phases, with Frank Casey finishing the way he did at the end of the half with the dunk and the behind-the-back dunk ... He is such a terrific athlete.

"Ben Melmeth was a real leader out there and showed that we could really take it to them. Aaron Olson was just superb with the dagger three-pointers. We still have 32 games to go, but it is good to get one in the bag."

The Breakers left for Queensland yesterday morning, giving them little time to prepare for their clash with the Taipans, who upset the Townsville Crocodiles 118-114 in their opening match.

Adelaide coach Phil Smyth had nothing but praise for the Breakers.

"If they play like that, they are going to be tough, especially at home with that kind of support they have got.

"The question throughout the course of the season is when you take a couple of knocks how you recover from that."

Cameron said it was hard being on the sideline for his side's opening match, but he was blown away by the 3300 crowd.