Breakers fire early again and hold off Bullets

They had to survive a furious finish but the New Zealand Breakers are very much alive in #NBL21 after holding off the Brisbane Breakers 97-92 to open Week 3 at the NBL Cup in Melbourne.

Just six days ago the Breakers had been thumped by the Sydney Kings, had lost Lamar Patterson to injury and were looking down and out with just one win on the season. 

The Webster brothers have proven to be the necromancers that brought them back from the dead and suddenly New Zealand have back-to-back wins and their finals ambitions remain very much in their own hands.

Both Corey (21 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Tai (19 points, nine rebounds, four assists) Webster were influential again as they set up the win with a barnstorming 27-12 first quarter.

It was a simply remarkable start to the game. Brisbane scored the first two points but then New Zealand hit the next 22 points to be up 22-2.

They still had to withstood a Bullets fightback with Rasmus Bach (16 points including 4/6 from long range) having ice in his veins to hit the late triple that all-but ended the Brisbane resistance. 

While the Webster brothers will deservedly receive a lot of praise, coach Dan Shamir said the result was a team effort.

"Both of them are very good players, the chemistry between them is something that is not the coach's work, that has been there forever. The good thing is they took over," he said.

"We were in a pretty tough place and they decided to get us out of there - a lot of players did. We have made the first two steps and hopefully we will continue."

Bach credited a trip to Luna Park prior to the game for clearing his head and sparking his hot run of form.

"The G-Force helped clear my head and lock me in," he said.

"I think I got to hit coach on the bumper cars once too, get a bit of frustration out."

The Bullets trailed by three and had a chance to reel in a rebound for a shot at overtime in the dying seconds, but were unable to get the vital board.

Brisbane did well to overcome their shocking first quarter to put themselves back in the contest. Vic Law (19 points, 10 rebounds) had an enormous third quarter and then deputised well as a makeshift centre in the final term as Matt Hodgson fouled out. 

Nathan Sobey contributed 19 points and five dimes while Anthony Drmic (17 points, four rebounds) continued his run of recent form as well.

Ultimately that horrendous first quarter came back to haunt them.

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis conceded that they are not going to win many games conceding a 22-0 run.

"The way we came out obviously wasn't great," he said.

"New Zealand the last three games have come out and dominated teams in the first five to six minutes and that is something that we didn't do a job of countering that tonight.

"On the defensive end they pushed us out what we wanted to do, settled for some contested shots and didn't get through what we are trying to get through.

"They certainly made some shots early and some of that might have to do with our defensive coverage but also not scoring it has hard to get back and get your defence set. We worked our way back into the game but that was not good enough because we didn't win."

The Breakers stunned the Adelaide 36ers in their last start and shot out of the blocks in this match as well, opening up a quick 11-point advantage. 

The Bullets lacked defensive intensity early which resulted in a timeout to stop the rot - it didn't work. The Breakers were getting the easiest of looks and another smash up result looked on the cards.

At 20-2 and just six minutes into the first quarter, it was all but goodnight nurse already for the Bullets. As their confidence fell, all Brisbane could manage were long-range Sobey prayers and they weren't being answered. 

The Bullets found some late buckets but haemorrhaging a 22-0 run had cost them dearly as they went into the first break trailing 27-12.

After the Bullets shot 0/5 from long range in the first quarter Jason Cadee splashed a much-needed triple and was fouled going for another, converting all three from the charity stripe. 

It helped the misfiring Bullets put themselves back into a position to be competitive and when Sobey found his range the deficit was just eight points.

Corey Webster needed to have his left knee strapped midway through the quarter while Tai Webster was benched with three fouls and suddenly the Breakers had lost their two best weapons. 

As the Bullets went on an 11-0 run to cut the margin to just four points Webster showed the strapping was no hindrance as he drained eight quick points to give New Zealand a 47-35 half-time lead.

Vic Law exploded out of the break and whacked home 13 straight points including two triples to reduce the lead to just five points, but every time it looked like Brisbane could steal the ascendency the Breakers found answers to create another buffer. 

Still, Brisbane won another quarter and trailed by just five heading into the final term with a golden chance to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. 

It was becoming a regular pattern, the Bullets would cut the lead to just three to five points and the Breakers would push it back over 10. 

When Corey Webster fouled out with two-and-a-half minutes remaining and Sobey nailed two triples there were nervous moments for New Zealand, but they held their nerve to secure their second win on the bounce.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8
NBL CUP WEEK 3

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 97 (C Webster 21, T Webster 19, Bach 16)

BRISBANE BULLETS 92 (Law 19, Sobey 18, Drmic 17) 

POINTS AWARDED – New Zealand Breakers 4.5, Brisbane Bullets 2.5

BOX SCORE