Adelaide 71
It may have been a celebration of Paul Henare's career but last night's Breakers' victory over the Adelaide 36ers turned into the Thomas Abercrombie show.
When Henare retires at the end of the season the club will lose a bit of its heart and soul. If Abercrombie follows his dream and heads off to play in Europe, the club will lose the most athletically-gifted player in the league.
NBL STANDINGS
Last night the 23-year-old racked up a career-high 26 points to go with five rebounds four assists and a brace of steals.
The Breakers went in without import forward Gary Wilkinson, who was a late withdrawal with the flu, but the absence of one of their key scorers didn't prevent them delivering the kind of pre-playoffs statement they would have hoped for. Adelaide battled gamely for three-quarters, but were pretty much road kill.
Centre Alex Pledger came in for Wilkinson, producing a mixed bag in his first career start.
Corey Webster's tentative return from a back injury deepened the sense the match was essentially a trial - an impression confirmed by Kirk Penney sitting for long periods. The star shooting guard was apparently nursing a banged-up shoulder suffered in training on Tuesday.
Penney still chipped in 19 points but his long absences meant Abercrombie was often charged with leading the attack.
He certainly showcased all of his skills in the opening quarter, producing a dazzling block on Daniel Johnson and at one stage pouring in 10 straight points from an array of long-range jumpers and dunks. That burst helped the Breakers close with a 14-5 run to take a 30-22 lead at quarter-time.
Led by the impressive Johnson, who racked up 20 points in the half, Adelaide closed to within five at the half. Only a strong shift from bench forward Benny Anthony, who notched 13 points, and some slick passing from Kevin Braswell kept the Breakers in front.
An 11-3 run spearheaded by Mika Vukona - whose fifth rebound of the night saw him surpass Ben Pepper as the club's all-time leader - put the Breakers firmly in control for good.
They now head to Melbourne for their final regular season match, before opening their playoff campaign at home to either Perth or Cairns next Thursday. Who they face depends on the result of tomorrow night's match between Cairns and Townsville Crocodiles.
One theory doing the rounds is that the Crocs won't be overly fussed if they lose. While a victory would see them traverse the continent to face a potentially stronger Perth team, a defeat would set up a more favourable derby against their North Queensland neighbour.
If that scenario plays out it will be the Breakers who draw the Wildcats and the long-haul trip to Perth and back that comes with it.
