Breakers fight and fall to Jazz

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

The New Zealand Breakers have rounded out the 2023 NBLxNBA series with a hard-fought loss to the Utah Jazz.

The New Zealand Breakers have rounded out the 2023 NBLxNBA series with a tough 20-point loss to the Utah Jazz.

The Breakers once again elected to field a taller starting five than they have in the NBL so far this season, starting Mangok Mathiang alongside Zylan Cheatham to open proceedings.

Next Star Mantas Rubstavicius played his first game for New Zealand following a groin injury picked up prior to the NBL Blitz, and the Lithuanian logged a solid 15 minutes in his first competitive appearance for the side. He ended the game with nine points and an assist.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mantas Rubstavicius for 3??<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> Next Star scores his first bucket in NBL threads ?<br><br>Catch the action live and free on Kayo Freebies / NBL YouTube for NZ viewers ? <a href="https://t.co/pU0vKOQ7ug">pic.twitter.com/pU0vKOQ7ug</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1714091891879239782?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

New signing Anthony Lamb flexed his NBA muscles against the Jazz and top-scored for the Breakers with 23 points, while Parker Jackson-Cartwright added 19 of his own.

Utah’s roster spread the scoring, however star forward Lauri Markkanen showed his class to top score for the Jazz with 15 points and seven boards, while Ochai Agbaji added 14 points.

New Zealand will now return home before a Sunday Hoops matchup against Melbourne United in Round 4 of the Hungry Jack's NBL season.

NEW ZEALAND 94 (Lamb 23, Jackson-Cartwright 19, Le'Afa 12)
UTAH JAZZ 114 (Markkanen 15, Agbaji 12, Clarkson 12)