"Sports Movie" Breakers Not Surprising Lowery

Former NBL champion Damon Lowery has declared New Zealand’s NBL23 season so far as like “a sports movie”.

The Breakers are now potentially just three games from one of the greatest turnarounds in NBL history. After finishes of ninth and tenth in the last two seasons New Zealand surged to second on the ladder in the regular season – and has since overcome Tasmania to earn a place in the Championship Series.

In their way though is the reigning champion Sydney Kings who are looking to go back-to-back, however Lowery says no matter what happens this has been a successful season for the storied club.

“Two years Covid had them in a headlock you didn’t think they were ever going to get out of,” Lowery said on SEN. “They come out of it with a new coach, they bring in about six new players and Mody Maor has built this team into a championship contender.

“He said early he wanted to bring back a New Zealand flavour. He brought back Tom Vodanovich from Sydney, he brought in Izayah Le’Afa from the South East Melbourne Phoenix, and he handed the car keys to Will McDowell-White.

“They absolutely nailed the three imports – they could not have a better three imports.

“They all love playing for this guy. I’m not surprised they’ve got to where they are.”

Despite the Kings finishing the season top of the ladder off the back of a championship, and coming up against the Cinderella story of the competition this year, Lowery believes there is little to no pressure on the pre-season favourites.

Despite losing its import trio ahead of the season, the Kings replaced Jaylen Adams, Ian Clark and Jarell Martin with Derrick Walton Jr, Justin Simon and Tim Soares to great effect.

Unlike the Breakers, outside of the new look import signings Sydney kept hold of the bulk of its local talent.

“These guys are locked in on a repeat and have been since the start of the season,” Lowery said of the Kings.

“They’re just built strong like that. I like their lead guard in Derrick Walton Jr who just takes control of the backcourt, you know what you’re going to get with Xavier Cooks.

“They’re built for a repeat which is very hard to do.

“They’ve got the home court advantage [and] it’s going to be tough to beat them.”

The Championship Series tips off on Friday, March 3 following the FIBA break.