New Zealand Breakers stun Cairns Taipans late in NBL Cup espn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from espn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Albert Perez/Getty Images
CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 08: New Zealand Breakers head coach Dan Shamir watches on during the round four NBL match between the Cairns Taipans and the New Zealand Breakers at Cairns Pop Up Arena, on February 08, 2021, in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Just 48 hours after their best performance of the Australian NBL season, the struggling New Zealand Breakers pitched in with their worst against the same opponents in Cairns. The Kiwi club, on Monday night at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena, managed to undo much of the ground gained by Saturday s meritorious 85-79 victory over the home-town Taipans with a dispiriting 84-69 defeat to the same Snakes.
Breakers dunk Taipans
Breakers coach Dan Shamir had no doubts that his star import Lamar Patterson would break out of his early Australian NBL funk and deliver a signature performance. As they say, form is temporary, and class permanent. That it happened in game three, a much-needed 85-79 victory over the Cairns Taipans in far North Queensland on Saturday night, was still a relief for the Breakers mentor as he got his team off the schneid for the season, with a chance to claw back to .500 against the same side on Monday night. The Breakers’ first victory of their stop-start campaign – there had been 10 days between their second straight defeat to the Adelaide 36ers and this one, a health scare and an aborted trip to Perth – improves them to 1-2. The Taipans, though, remain on the slippery slide with a sixth straight loss leaving last year’s surprise semifinalists teetering on the brink at 1-6.
Breakers dunk Taipans
Take that for too fat. Under-pressure Breakers import Lamar Patterson responded to his army of critics with a game-changing breakout display for the Breakers in Cairns on Saturday night. Sure, he had some help via a standout contribution from his point guard Tai Webster (25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists), but the timely return to form of Patterson (22 points off the bench, on 8-of-15 shooting), especially over the second half, was the key contribution in an 85-79 Breakers Australian NBL victory over the home-town Taipans. It was much-needed, too, all round for the Kiwi outfit as they get off the schneid and improve to 1-2 for the new season. The Snakes, on the other hand, slid to a sixth straight defeat to slither to the bottom of the table at 1-6. The angst will be building big time in Far North Queensland.