Basketball: Breakers wary of Adelaide

CJ Bruton. Photo / Getty Images

They have beaten the Adelaide 36ers twice this season in the Australian National Basketball League already but CJ Bruton says this is not the time for complacency from the New Zealand Breakers.

The Breakers sit on to top the table with 12 wins and just three losses and will host Adelaide tomorrow night at Auckland.

Point guard Bruton, a key playmaker in the side's progress this season says nothing can be taken for granted in competitive ANBL.

"You've got to take it a game at a time, you can't jump and start looking towards the playoffs - while they might not be far away they aren't here with us now," said Bruton who is in his third season with the Breakers.

"Each and every game can change the status for each team.

"For us we have to be focused on the job in hand and know that each team presents different obstacles for us."

"Adelaide is well prepared after their (90-83) win over the Gold Coast so will be tough on Thursday.

"They have a lot of different guards that can do different things. They also have Adam Ballinger and Jacob Holmes who have played in the New Zealand league but the key is the variety in the guard spot, which is how they get a lot of things done.

"We have to focus on our job, be aggressive, we did this in the second half against Cairns (won 94-88) but we have to maintain that for the entire game and keep our energy levels high and everyone does their job."

Bruton, who has won three ANBL titles, said the home support will be important and is hoping for a repeat of last Thursday's sell-out crowd for the Cairns match.

"The crowd last week was outstanding; we have only had a few games like that in my three years here at the club, it was a special night.

"There were plenty of new faces at a game for the first time so hopefully they will all be back again."

Bruton is keen to see the Breakers keep their winning roll going as Cairns (10-4) , Perth (11-5) and a resurgent Townsville (10-7) are nipping at their heels in the race for top four spots. The top two at the end of the regular season will take home advantge for the semifinals.

Bruton said he was still troubled by an injured elbow and while it was improving, he still not 100 percent.

"I thought it might take a few weeks to repair, maybe next week if it hasn't come right 100 percent I might see the doc.

"For now I will play as much as the coach sees fit and do the job the coach asks me to until I am back to 100 percent."

Meanwhile, Breakers guard Kirk Penney has won the league's player of the week award for Round 14 for his role in the tough win over Cairns.

Penney stood out scoring 24 points and adding six rebounds, five assists and two steals. His haul included hitting five three-pointers for the match. This is Penney's third player of the week award this season, having also taken out back-to-back honours in rounds nine and 10 as well as the player of the month award for December.

- NZPA