Full Strength Phoenix Fire in NZ

With their full roster available for the first time this season the South East Melbourne Phoenix torched the New Zealand Breakers who had been outstanding defensively of late, winning 99-77 at The Trusts Arena.

The Phoenix arrived in Auckland on a three-game losing run up against the challenge of a Breakers team on their own three-match winning streak where their defensive prowess had shone against the Tasmania JackJumpers, Phoenix and Illawarra Hawks.

However, South East Melbourne welcomed import point guard Gary Browne and instantly looked a smooth running machine. With Alan Williams, Mitch Creek, Kyle Adnam and Zhou Qi all having their scoring streaks, the Phoenix piled on 38 points on 16/21 shooting in the first quarter.

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The Breakers defence had no answer and by midway through the third term, the Phoenix lead had blown out to 29 and they went on to score their second win of the season to the tune of 22 points.

Five Phoenix players scored in double figures, but having Browne running the point was massive and he finished with eight points and nine assists having shaken off a knee injury.

Adnam ended up top-scoring with 17 points while Williams delivered 16 points and nine rebounds, Trey Kell 13 points and five assists, and Zhou Qi 10 points, six boards and two assists.

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell was not only happy to have his full squad, but to see them find their offensive groove.

"It was very pleasing. It's been a battle for us going all the way to the start of pre-season and every day there seems to be a new drama for us to try and overcome," Mitchell said.

"It's just nice to have all the guys out there. More importantly it was good to see the ball go through the hoop, we left a lot of points on the floor last game even though our offensive wasn’t particularly good. 

"Tonight to see that ball drop early with Rowdy and Trey and everybody, Alan made such a great impact early in the game and Zhou Qi came in and kept the momentum going. It was just really encouraging and we have to make shots because we don't have our legs yet."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Phoenix won&#39;t stop ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/2GpImMd1rc">pic.twitter.com/2GpImMd1rc</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1583008254925234176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

South East Melbourne shot at 62 per cent from the floor for the game while the Breakers managed just 38 with Jarrell Brantley battling hard for 17 points and four rebounds.

Dererk Pardon added 16 points and five boards and Izayah Le'afa 10 points and four assists despite shooting just 3/17.

Breakers coach Mody Maor just felt it was one of those nights where everything snowballed into the final result.

"You come into a game like this and there can be a few different scenarios. This is our third game in five days and we know our roster is short, all those excuses are kind of stacked in," Maor said.

"But you don’t know how it's going to play out and this was worst case scenario. We weren’t there from an intensity and competitive level, they made shots, it got away from us and we never really found a way back in. 

"I can't fault my guys for trying, they never hang their heads and kept doing what they could, and we know we are better than this and will learn from this. We'll come back stronger in three days."

It was a stunning opening from the Phoenix beginning with a Ryan Broekhoff three ball before Mitch Creek and Alan Williams combined for a 7-2 run to give them the lead 10-2 lead.

South East Melbourne was just getting started too with Williams knocking down 10 early points before Creek caught fire and then Kyle Adnam gave a spark off the bench, but everything was being set up by point guard Gary Browne in his first game.

He had six assists in the first quarter with Zhou Qi finishing off with a couple of dunks as the Phoenix piled on 38 points in the first quarter at 76 per cent shooting with 22 points in the paint – and it was against a team who had been superb defensively the last three games.

New Zealand still put up 25 points in the first term themselves with Jarrell Brantley and Will McDowell-White combining for 17, but they had no answers up the other end.

That continued in the second period with Zhou throwing down two more slams. Reuben Te Rangi then knocked down his first three of the season, Browne scored his first NBL points and a triple on the half-time buzzer from Creek saw the Phoenix up 58-41 at the break.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HE&#39;S AT IT AGAIN BIG ZHOU! ? ?<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y4A9puzQpH">pic.twitter.com/Y4A9puzQpH</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1582992306692845569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

They shot 65 per cent as a team for the half along the way while Dererk Pardon and Brantley had 26 points on 10/10 shooting for the Breakers, but the rest of the team went 4/25.

Despite Izayah Le'afa hitting from deep early in the second half for New Zealand after missing his first 11 field goals, South East Melbourne maintained the rage. Trey Kell drained a pair of long balls and soon after Zhou stretched the margin out to 29.

The Phoenix still led by 25 at three quarter-time and really, much of the fourth term was both teams going through the motions with South East Melbourne claiming the confidence boosting 22-point win.

Both teams back up again in Round 4 with the Breakers away to the Cairns Taipans on Sunday while the Phoenix play host to the winless Brisbane Bullets on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 4

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 77 (Brantley 17, Pardon 16, Le'afa 10)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 99 (Adnam 17, Williams 16, Creek 15)

BOX SCORE