Will McDowell-White posted a double-double to lead the NZ Breakers past the Illawarra Hawks. Photo / Photosport
NZ Breakers 88
Illawarra Hawks 62
The New Zealand Breakers are rolling into the NBL season.
A season ago, they were the competition's minnows. Ending the campaign with just five wins from 28 matches, the New Zealand side found themselves at the foot of the ladder.
It's a different story this year.
In four matches, the Breakers are surging. An 88-62 win over the Illawarra Hawks on Monday night saw the New Zealand side improve their record to 3-1, claiming their third win in a row.
Despite being without leading scorer Barry Brown Jr due to hamstring tightness, the Breakers attack fired early. As has been the case all season, the Breakers attacked and set up good looks through pick-and-roll plays and while they struggled from beyond the arc, they worked good looks and made the most of those when they got them in close.
Will McDowell-White was impressive once again, initiating the offense well while also doing plenty of rebounding work, ending the game with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while ball movement saw players get good looks and the likes of Dererk Pardon and Tom Vodanovich secured offensive rebounds to keep plays alive.
Coming into the match, the Breakers had led at the end of the first quarter in every match of their campaign to date. But after a slow start, that looked set to change.
However, it only looked like that briefly as soon the Breakers found their rhythm on attack and began to see the ball go through the hoop, ending the quarter with a 21-16 lead.
They stepped things up a gear in the second quarter, locking the Hawks down defensively and making their possessions count at the other end of the floor. The Breakers led by as many as 24 points in the second quarter, despite only draining four of their 17 attempts from three-point range in the half.
Taking a healthy lead into the break, the Breakers left the door open for the Hawks to mount a comeback in the third quarter as their offense stumbled out of the gate. Illawarra were able to go on an 11-0 scoring run in the quarter to close the gap, before a couple of Cam Gliddon three-pointers meant the Breakers got to double-figures for the quarter.
With the lead they had already built, their inability to score early in the third quarter wasn't a disaster, but will definitely be an area of the game they will need to address moving forward, with the third quarter being their lowest-scoring period in each of their last three matches.
It will be one of a few areas coach Mody Maor will consider before their next match in Waitākere on Thursday, with the side also committing 14 turnovers – with 17 Hawks points coming directly as a result of those.
But while there are things for the side to tidy up, they were ultimately too good for their hosts, running away with a 26-point lead and finishing the night with six players scoring in double figures.
NZ Breakers 88 (Will McDowell-White 17 points, Cam Gliddon 12, Rayan Rupert 11)
Illawarra Hawks 62 (Tyler Harvey 12)
1Q: 21-16. HT 47-26. 3Q: 60-49.
