Breakers blunt Bullets in impressive showing

The SKYCITY Breakers rounded off their pre-season with a comprehensive win over the Brisbane Bullets in Tauranga tonight, winning 83-67 in a game they always had under control, in a performance that should have the fans online to buy their tickets for October 8 at Spark Arena.

The home side got out to a quick start, pouring in 23 first quarter points while restricting Brisbane to just 14 with some miserly defence that Head Coach Paul Henare would have been thrilled with. That smothering effort was clearly a target for the Breakers tonight, and the Bullets were simply not allowed to find any rhythm.

The second quarter saw the same pattern continue, with the offensive effort led by impressive import DJ Newbill (12) and a resurgent Kirk Penney (10) who found his range from long distance, shooting two daggers from deep with typical Penney accuracy as the Breakers effectively shut the game down 52-33.

Assistant Coach Judd Flavell spoke of the many positives on display just days out from the season opener at Spark Arena on October 8 against the Cairns Taipans.

"I thought the game had a lot of positives for us, we were able to take care of the first half and keep them under pressure, every shot was challenged, we forced them into tough shouts and then rebounded and stretched our legs going the other way.

"The second half they came out and ran a bit more, maybe on the back of some of our turnovers, but for the most part defensively we did a good job. They had Holt, Trice, Kickert - all handy scorers in this league and we kept them in check."

Flavell was impressed but what he saw from multiple players, but mentioned veteran shooting guard Kirk Penney on the back of a 16-point performance that included 4 of 8 from deep.

"Kirk at his best coming off catch and shoot, when he has that rhythm going there is no one better in the league. It is good for him and for our offence, it makes us tick, and he does a great job if he doesnt have the shot to keep the ball moving and find the next spot. That is key for us, we have multiple guys who can do multiple things, we have to keep the b all moving, we have a lot of threats. Especially with Tom playing in the four spot, we can load up that three point line.

"It has only been three weeks but that was promising, I think this is going to be an exciting team to watch, I would be encouraging Breaker Nation fans to be getting their tickets for the season and lining up on the 8th at Spark Arena, it will be a fun season for sure."

Brisbane made a run at the Breakers early in the second half, but the Breakers regrouped, stepped up the defence again and opened the game up with baskets at critical times, with multiple players stepping up.

The Breakers smashed the Bullets on the boards to the tune of 42-29, an indication of the effort in the paint and the focus on defence from the entire team, with Pledger leading the count on the boards with 8.

Beset for the visitors was former Breaker Reuben Te Rangi who led all scorers with 17 well-paced points and import Perrin Buford who showed that he will be a threat around the rim this season for the Bullets.

SKYCITY Breakers 83 (Newbill 16, Penney 16, Loe 11)

Brisbane Bullets 67 (Te Rangi 17, Perrin 14, Kickert 12)

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Basketball New Zealand