Former MVP Declares Breakers as "Locks" for Second Spot

Corey Williams has said the race for second place on the ladder is over, with the former NBL MVP declaring New Zealand has the position “locked”.

The Breakers and Taipans are competing for second place and the massive post-season advantage it comes with – a home semi-final series.

New Zealand has two games left to play this season – against the Hawks and Bullets – while the Taipans take on the Wildcats in Perth in Round 18.

The most simple equation regarding the finishing position of the two sides is if New Zealand wins both of its games, the Breakers will complete their massive turnaround from bottom in NBL22 to second place in NBL23.

“They just have to beat those two teams and second is locked.” Williams said on NBL Overtime. “This is the business end of the season. They’ve dropped the games when Barry Brown was out and Le’Afa was out – they made their error, they tripped already right before the finish line.

“It’s at the finish line now and it’s like a whole new breath of live has given them another opportunity to lock in second.

“Cairns blew it.”

Liam Santamaria was less bullish on declaring New Zealand as locks for a home semi-final, and alluded to the Hawks’ and Bullets’ ability to shock teams in recent weeks.

“You wouldn’t think it would happen, but [New Zealand] lost to Illawarra a couple of weeks ago … [and] who knows if Brisbane has one last hurrah in them this season.

“It’s cool that race for second spot is coming down to the wire between these two teams because, let’s be honest, they are the Cinderella stories of NBL23.

“While we all keep our eye on who is going to make or miss finals, this is going to be a fun race in its own right.”

New Zealand travel to Illawarra to take on the Hawks on Thursday night before moving on to Brisbane to take on the Bullets on Saturday.

Cairns travel to Perth to take on the Wildcats on Friday night.