Breakers Embrace Pressure

Thursday, January 19, 2023

The New Zealand Breakers have their eyes set on the NBL finals and nothing else, coach Mody Maor has bluntly declared.

“If we win four out of our last six games then we’re for sure in the playoffs,” Maor said.

With six games remaining, the Breakers sit third on the ladder with a 13-9 record, after sitting in the top two for most of the season.

If New Zealand finishes in the top two they will advance straight to the semi-finals but finishing 3-6 will land them in the play-in tournament.

“The ladder is very tight, as it has been for the last couple of months,” Maor said.

“We’ve done well, we’re playing well, and we’re competing well so wherever it ends it’s a good thing for us.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">19 years of the highs & the lows, what's stayed consistent is having the best fan base in the NBL ?<br><br>Let's keep it going ??<br><br>Tomorrow night: <a href="https://t.co/q3WWbOFavd">https://t.co/q3WWbOFavd</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNBREAKABLE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNBREAKABLE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ROADTOTHECHAMPIONSHIP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ROADTOTHECHAMPIONSHIP</a> <a href="https://t.co/b3Q4sd3fiB">pic.twitter.com/b3Q4sd3fiB</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1615529413440847874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The battle for positioning has put increased pressure on the Breakers’ final four games, something Maor embraces.

“We enjoy pressure, it’s a privilege,” Maor said.

Ahead of their match-up tonight with a steadily improving Illawarra Hawks, Maor spoke on the challenges New Zealand have faced in the last month, and the difficulty of facing the Hawks, who always put in a tough fight despite sitting last.

“The last month has been challenging for the Breakers, the guys have been competing and playing as hard as they can. We’ve lost a few close ones,” Maor said.

“While on the other hand, Illawarra have been great the past month, all their losses have been very close losses. They compete to the max every time they hit the floor.”

Tip-off against the Hawks is at 5:30pm AEDT at Spark Arena.