Road Warrior Breakers Improve to 7-2 on the Road with Playoffs in Sight

The bigger the occasion the more the Sky Sport Breakers seem to rise in NBL23 as they produced a strong performance to hold out the Adelaide 36ers in front of another record Adelaide Entertainment Centre crowd for Sunday's 85-83 win.

The Sixers fans were again out in force on Sunday with another record home crowd of 9368 turning up with high expectations as they looked to back up that great escape against the Illawarra Hawks on Friday night to return to the top six.

However, the Breakers arrived with a full roster available with the return of point guard Will McDowell-White and they would have the answers all afternoon long each time the 36ers threatened them.

It was a strong performance from New Zealand who never trailed after grabbing the lead midway through the opening quarter. 

Despite being in control up nine with a couple of minutes to play, New Zealand's win wasn’t secure with Adelaide getting some critical stops and scoring the last seven points including a huge dunk from Antonius Cleveland.

The home team couldn’t quite pull off the second comeback of the weekend, though, and as a result, the Breakers maintain second spot with a 13-6 record with a hectic schedule to come. The 36ers are just clinging to sixth position at 11-10.

Barry Brown Jr finished with 16 points and three assists on 6/9 shooting for New Zealand with Jarrell Brantley contributing 15 points and five rebounds, and Izayah Le'afa 13 points.

Will McDowell-White returned with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds with Dererk Pardon contributing 10 points and seven rebounds.

Robert Franks top-scored for Adelaide with 20 points, 13 rebounds and three steals with Antonius Cleveland adding 18 points and five boards, and Ian Clark 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Kai Sotto was impressive as well in over 22 minutes delivering 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks on 8/12 shooting.

Despite Barry Brown Jr scoring New Zealand's first seven points, Adelaide did have the better of the start with a couple of Kai Sotto buckets helping the home team to an early 9-5 edge.

However, New Zealand went on a 6-0 run before triples before quarter-time to Brown and Izayah Le'afa helped them lead 19-15 on the back of forcing the Sixers into six turnovers and scoring eight points from them.

Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks combined to give Adeliade the lead to start the second, but it was only brief with the Breakers hitting the next seven points including an alley-oop finish from Dererk Pardon on the pass from Jarrell Brantley, and then a three ball from Cam Gliddon.

Tom Abercrombie soon pushed the advantage for New Zealand to seven, and despite the 13 free-throw attempts to five in the half for Adelaide, the Breakers maintained that advantage on 52 per cent field goal shooting to 46 to lead 45-38 at the break.

Adelaide came out and got a three-pointer from Cleveland to open the second half but the Breakers continued to hold firm. The Sixers pulled the gap back to as close as one during the third quarter, but each time New Zealand responded.

Whether it was three-pointers to Brantley or Rayan Rupert or some finishes on the drive from Will McDowell-White, the Breakers held firm and were still on top 68-63 heading into the fourth.

Teenage Next Star Rupert hit his second three to start the final period to put New Zealand back up eight and even though the 36ers kept on coming led by Sotto, the visitors continued to have all the answers.

Sotto threw down a dunk on the alley-oop pass from Clark before another dunk on the baseline drive and a huge block on Brown. However, the Breakers kept responding and a Brown three ball had them still up eight.

Another three free-throws from Pardon saw that advantage out to nine with three minutes to go but the 36ers weren’t done with yet.

A three-point play from Franks and bucket to Cleveland had the home team back within four and then with a minute to play it was back to a two-point game thanks to a thunderous Cleveland dunk.

It all led to a dramatic finish with neither team able to score again but it was Clark who had a look at the winner for Adelaide. His three just came up short with five seconds to play with New Zealand holding on for the two-point win.

The Breakers have the quick turnaround to play the Perth Wildcats at RAC Arena on Tuesday night before being straight to Christchurch to play Melbourne United on Thursday.

It's another crucial match up for the 36ers on Thursday on the road to the Tasmania JackJumpers.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 14

ADELAIDE 36ERS 83 (Franks 20, Cleveland 18, Clark 16, Sotto 16)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 85 (Brown Jr 16, Brantley 15, Le'afa 13) 

BOX SCORE