Basketball: New Zealand Breakers bounce back with ugly win over Cairns Taipans

Barry Brown Jr led the NZ Breakers to an unlikely win over the Cairns Taipans. Photo / Photosport

After the first quarter of their NBL match against the Cairns Taipans on Sunday, the New Zealand Breakers might have been dealing with a case of deja vu.

They had just travelled across the Tasman following a dismal performance against South East Melbourne in which they struggled with their shooting and gave up 38 points in a single quarter.

After 10 minutes of action in Cairns, the Breakers trailed by double figures – missing on nine three-point attempts and only able to put up five points - matching the NBL record for fewest points scored in a quarter.

But sometimes you have to win ugly. For as bad as the Breakers were playing, Cairns failed to take full advantage. Ultimately, the New Zealand side found a way back into the game, and came away with a 68-64 win in a match that no one is going to rush to watch again.

The three-point shot has not been a strength of the Breakers this season, having only had a success rate of 30 per cent or higher from beyond the arc in two of their five matches leading into the tilt in Cairns. That trend continued on Sunday, as the side missed their first 15 attempts from deep. They did, however, see eight of their next 14 drop, finishing the game shooting 27 per cent from range.

The return of Barry Brown Jr from injury gave the side a lift in scoring, as the import guard challenged the Taipans in the key off the dribble and ended the match with 24 points off the bench. His influence on the game was much-needed, particularly late in the piece as stars Will McDowell-White and Jarrell Brantley had fouled out.

While the Taipans opened the game on a 10-0 scoring run, their largest lead in the contest was only 13 points as the Breakers found a way to shake off their early issues, at least on the defensive end.

Although it wasn't pretty, the Breakers were able to keep chipping away at the early Cairns lead as they put the screws on defensively. While, like the Breakers, Cairns had some offensive woes, the defensive rebounding of big men Dererk Pardon, Rob Loe and Tom Vodanovich ensured the hosts weren't getting extra possessions off their own missed shots.

They made a small incision into the Taipans lead by the break, reducing the gap from 11 to nine, but it was in the second half where they really started to look like they could pull off an unlikely win.

By the midway point of the third quarter, they had reduced the gap to five, before a Pardon layup brought the Breakers within three points late in the stanza.

However, they didn't take the lead until a Rayan Rupert three pointer fell through the twine with less than seven minutes remaining in the match. From there, they held their nerve and, while the sides traded the lead down the stretch, were able to hold on to a four-point lead when the final buzzer sounded.

The win sees the Breakers improve to 4-2 as they look to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

NZ Breakers 68 (Barry Brown Jr 24 points, Jarrell Brantley 13)
Cairns Taipans 64 (DJ Hogg 25, Bul Kuol 13)
1Q: 5-16. HT: 23-32. 3Q: 45-50.