Breakers Aim for Third Straight Win Tonight

The brother of star NBA import Jarrell Brantley will likely take to the court alongside him for the Sky Sport Breakers against the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong tonight.  (Live on Sky Sport 2 and Prime from 9:30 pm).
 
At 29, Jamaal is three years older than Jarrell and has flown to Australia as an injury replacement player for import Barry Brown, who is unlikely to play because of a problem hamstring.
 
The older Brantley brother will fit into Coach Mody Maor’s system with ease.  
 
He arrived in New Zealand two months ago and has trained every day with the Breakers in case the day ever came when injury would rule one of the imports out of a game.
 
Brantley joins a team, high in confidence after an impressive 85-77 win over the SEM Phoenix in Melbourne – a result all the more remarkable considering the Breakers were without Brown and the experienced heads of Tom Abercrombie and Australian Boomer Cam Gliddon.
 
“There is a lot of character there,” says Maor.
 
“I see a bunch of people who compete all the time; there’s never possessions we take off.”
 
The Breakers will fancy their chances against the Hawks in a venue that holds no fears for them.
 
They have beaten the Hawks in pre-season and ten months ago, when they last played in Wollongong, they took the home side to double overtime.
 
The Hawks sit eighth on the league ladder, coming off a 90-80 loss to the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday, and are 1-3 for the season having already lost at home to the Sydney Kings.
 
By contrast, the Breakers are fourth with two wins; their only loss was in overtime to Melbourne United in their opening game.
 
They are also buoyed by the news that Gliddon should play some part in tonight’s game, having overcome the flu.
 
It will also be fascinating to see if Izayah Le’afa can build on his breakout performance for the Breakers, where he had a career-high 10-assists to go with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals.
 
“For me, it means a lot to see his growth as a point guard,” says Maor.
 
“The ball wasn’t dropping for him, but he stayed aggressive and kept making plays for his teammates.  This is the biggest area where Izayah keeps growing, and for us to be a great team, he needs to keep growing."
 
Breakers fans hope the growth spurt continues against the Hawks from 10 pm tonight.