How Breakers "didn't fold"

Last time New Zealand lost a player during a game, the contest was turned on its head and the Breakers lost. This time, they held firm.

When Zylan Cheatham went down in Round 5 New Zealand fell on the wrong side of a 27-14 fourth quarter against Adelaide, and although the JackJumpers attempted an immense comeback of their own on Thursday night following the loss of Will McDowell-White, the Breakers held on for a much-needed three-point win.

McDowell-White started the game alongside guard pair Izayah Le’afa and Zylan Cheatham but did not take to the court for the second half. He missed Round 1 with a hand injury, and head coach Mody Maor is proud of how his team reacted to the loss of the star guard.

“It’s very important for a team to be tested, and we’ve been tested, and today was another test. Losing Will – last time we lost a player in the middle of a game we folded,” Maor said post-game.

“We didn’t fold this one.

“We made some adjustments during the game that worked but really what helped was guys kept raising their level of effort and level of intensity. The way we defended in the second and the third were super important.

“He’s (McDowell-White) in pain at the moment, I don’t know what it is and I don’t want to speculate. We’ve had enough bad luck, so I think we’re due for an upswing, so fingers crossed he’ll play against Illawarra.”

Maor continued to alter his starting five, and Anthony Lamb and McDowell-White entered the opening lineup at the expense of Finn Delany and Tom Abercrombie.

Lamb scored 20 points in the first half alone but quietened late to end with 24, while Delany was solid with 11 points before fouling out.

The Breakers continue to rely on the veteran Abercrombie who played more minutes than two of New Zealand’s starters, while Le’afa ended the game with five steals.

Delany says the group had challenged itself to be better after last week’s tough defeat to Perth.

“It’s a big win in the situation we’re in, and we need more of that to grow on that. I think the playing group took a lot of a step up and accountability during the week and it showed tonight,” Delany said.

“We knew we had to be a lot better, it was kind of obvious. We were kind of angry at the result last week so it’s good to respond.

"We have to continue to grow on it, there’s a ways to go and there are a lot of things we could be better at and take that mentality moving forward.”

New Zealand will play one more fixture in Round 8 ahead of the FIBA Break. The Breakers will face the Illawarra Hawks and interim head coach Justin Tatum on Sunday at 2pm AEDT, live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach, 10 Play, and Sky Sports in New Zealand.