Basketball: New Zealand Breakers fall to Tasmania Jackjumpers in return to NBL court

The New Zealand Breakers fell to the Tasmania Jackjumpers on Boxing Day. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand Breakers have returned to the court, but were unable to complete a season sweep over the Tasmania Jackjumpers as they fell to a 93-82 defeat in Hobart on Monday night.

While they were able to field a team for the first time in almost three weeks after several members of the team were dealing with a bout of Covid-19, the Breakers were still short-handed for the match. Rob Loe was again ruled out with a back injury, while the unavailability of both point guard Will McDowell-White and big man Sam Timmins meant the side had just four reserves available and only two of those were players who see regular minutes.

All five of their starters scored in double figures – Izayah Le’afa leading the way with 21 – but after falling behind early they were unable to make up the deficit and were handed their third-straight loss.

“This was not a good game for us, obviously,” Breakers coach Mody Maor said.

“Part of it has to do with not playing a game for a long period of time, but I don’t want to take away credit from the Jackjumpers. They played great. This is exactly the kind of team you don’t want to meet when you’re down a point guard and you’re a little bit out of rhythm, they exploited it to the max.”

The Breakers have been a cohesive unit so far this season, but it was clear the time off did not do wonders for their rhythm as they. They started the game well with Jarrell Brantley getting the scoring going early, however a steep drop off at the end of the first quarter saw the Jackjumpers go on an 11-2 run over the last two minutes to hold a 10-point lead after the first quarter.

In their three previous meetings this season, the Breakers had been able to handle the Jackjumpers, but they were unable to get the stops they needed – or capitalise when they did – after falling behind by double digits in the first quarter.

The gap remained at 10 points at halftime, before being extended to 11 after the third stanza which was where the margin stayed.

In their return, the shooting numbers were solid for the New Zealand side – draining 45 per cent of their shot attempts and 46 per cent from three-point range. However, they conceded 18 turnovers – Brantley accounting for seven of those – and were punished for not being able to clean up on the glass as the Jackjumpers scored 14 points from second possessions.

Following the loss, the Breakers sit second on the leaderboard with an 11-6 record, trailing the Sydney Kings by one win. They will now have plenty of time to rest and recover, with their next match scheduled to be played in New Plymouth on January 4 against the Perth Wildcats.