Breakers open Ignite Cup in scintillating fashion

Parker Jackson-Cartwright dished out 17 assists and the New Zealand Breakers made 18 three-pointers as they opened the Ignite Cup spectacularly and got their first NBL26 win beating the Illawarra Hawks 117-88.

The lightning-quick Jackson-Cartwright paired 17 assists with 20 points at Auckland's Spark Arena on Wednesday night as the Breakers shook off their opening four losses of the season in scorching style.

It was the first game of the new Wednesday's night Ignite Cup for NBL26 and the Breakers made sure it was a night to remember as they knocked down 18/40 from three-point territory as a team with 30 assists in total.

It had been a team averaging just 82.5 points in their four losses, but they turned it on for 117 points against the defending champs including Sam Mennenga hitting 4/7 from downtown, Reuben Te Rangi 4/8, and Next Star Karim Lopez 3/7.

Jackson-Cartwright set a new 40-minute era assists record too with his 17 dimes surpassing the previous mark of15 held jointly by Melbourne's Nate Tomlinson in 2013 and Cairns' Tahjere McCall in 2023.

The NBL's all-time record is 24 by Derek Rucker for Newcastle in 1994, when games went for 48 minutes.

Mennenga finished the night for the Breakers with 20 points and six rebounds while Te Rangi added 18 points and four boards, Lopez 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals, Izaiah Brockington 14 points, and Carlin Davison 12 points and four rebounds.

The Hawks are now 0-3 as defending champions as they lacked the same defensive bite that was so instrumental in their title triumph.

Three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee had another 19 points, five assists, three rebounds and three blocks with Tyler Harvey top-scoring with 22 points to go with five assists.

Mason Peatling also had 14 points and six rebounds, and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk 10 points and three boards.

New Zealand won each quarter, giving them the perfect start to the league's new in-season tournament, which has a quarter-by-quarter scoring system and a total prize pool of $400,000.

The Breakers were on song from the outset, taking advantage of Illawarra's porous defence and plethora of turnovers to open a 30-24 quarter-time lead.

Mennenga buried three triples in the second term as the Breakers knocked down seven of their first 10 from long range to steam ahead 53-38.

McGee spearheaded an 11-0 Hawks burst to trim the gap to four points, but the big fella's brain-fade with 0.7 seconds remaining in the half - an unsportsmanlike foul as he grabbed Rob Loe and tossed him aside - cost the visitors.

Harvey's last-second bucket was overturned and Loe nailed two free throws at the other end to close the half.

Jackson-Cartwright hit a foul shot in the third term to make it an 8-0 run for 61-49, after fired-up Illawarra coach Justin Tatum was handed a technical foul as the teams headed to the locker rooms.

New Zealand won the third period 27-23 before blowing the Hawks away 30-16 in the fourth.

The Breakers unleashed a 17-0 spree down the stretch, capped by Mennenga's vicious left-handed tomahawk off Jackson-Cartwright's 17th assist.

Both teams back up to play again in Round 4 with the Hawks returning home to the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday to host the Brisbane Bullets while the Breakers remain at Spark Arena to face the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 – IGNITE CUP BY DISNEY+

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 117 (Mennenga 20, Jackson-Cartwright 20, Te Rangi 18)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 88 (Harvey 22, McGee 19, Peatling 14)

BOX SCORE