Phoenix close in on securing Finals spot with win in NZ

It was no surprise that the New Zealand Breakers took them right down to the wire, but a season-best performance from Keifer Sykes has given the South East Melbourne Phoenix the win they needed on Saturday in Auckland.

It was only fitting that the Breakers ended their tumultuous #NBL21 season with a gutsy and spirited showing, but ultimately the Phoenix had too much to play for at The Trusts Arena.

South East Melbourne had blown a couple of chances in Cairns this week to lock in a finals berth, but they all but secured a spot in the top four on Saturday with the 83-78 victory to just about snuff out the hopes of the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets.

It would be a fair achievement for the Phoenix to qualify for the finals in just their second season in the NBL with the win improving their record to 19-16 ahead of one last regular season game on Tuesday away to the Bullets in Brisbane.

New Zealand might not have got the win, but they delivered a spirited fourth quarter fight back in front of almost 4000 fans at The Trusts Arena in their seventh game in their home country to close a season that saw them based out of Australia since the start of December.

Keifer Sykes came out like a man possessed with 21 points in the first half and he ended up with 29 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists for the night in a match-winning display.

Ben Moore had a big say in the win for South East Melbourne too with 11 points and eight rebounds while Reuben Te Rangi delivered 10 points and four boards, Yanni Wetzell eight points and seven rebounds, and Ryan Broekhoff eight points and 10 boards.

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell wasn’t quite ready to celebrate the finals spot yet all be it just about a formality.

"I think there's some mathematical equations to be made it first and that wasn’t our best basketball by any stretch of the imagination, and our composure wasn’t the highest, but we dug in defensively and played the right way," Mitchell said.

"Maybe over the last couple of games you could maybe suggest we weren’t playing the right way but we had a bit of swerve on with our offence in the first half. That dried up a little bit but we were able to maintain some stops at the defensive end so that was really pleasing. I thought our guys rebounded really well."

Tai Webster did all he could to try and lift New Zealand to the season-ending 13th victory with 26 points, four rebounds and three steals while Finn Delany delivered another 18 points, seven boards and four assists.

Colton Iverson also battled hard down low for 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Breakers.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir felt the game summed up the season in a lot of ways for his team and despite everything they've been through, they are now focused on getting better next season.

"It's kind of symbolic of our season and we didn’t really stop them in the first half and by the numbers we did a better job in the second half," Shamir said.

"We had a lot of issues with Keifer Sykes in the beginning obviously and I'm happy that at least at the end Kyrin Galloway got some good minutes. It has been a tough season that ends now. 

"We have stayed together and fought hard, but it was still frustrating in a lot of moments from a professional point of view. We all know that we have to be better on all accounts and play better basketball, and each and every one of us need to bring more. We are going to do everything we can to get it done."

Knowing what was at stake, the Phoenix made the perfect start hitting the game's opening five points but the Breakers soon got going too and the teams couldn’t be split at the end of the first quarter with the scores locked at 26-apiece.

Again South East Melbourne started the second quarter strongly with the first six points and this time they were able to hold New Zealand at bay and build up a 10-point lead by the half-time break.

A Kyle Adnam three ball and Ben Moore bucket then helped the Phoenix to a 14-point advantage but it was an eerily similar situation to the last two games they lost in Cairns to the Taipans and Bullets so they couldn’t afford to take anything by granted.

A Rasmus Bach steal and layup on the buzzer helped keep New Zealand within 10 points at three quarter-time, and then despite Tai Webster scoring nine points in the first six minutes of the final term, the Phoenix continued to have all the answers.

The Breakers wouldn’t go away, though, and a Willliam McDowell-White three-pointer had the margin just six. Moore then missed two free-throws for the Phoenix before Tai Webster made two more free-throws to make it a four-point ball game with two minutes on the clock.

New Zealand got a couple of stops in-a-row, though, before Bach had a great look on a driving layup. He came up short and in the end two Ryan Broekhoff free-throws was enough to seal the win for the Phoenix. 

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 21

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 78 (T Webster 26, Delany 18, Iverson 10)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 83 (Sykes 29, Moore 11, Te Rangi 10) 

BOX SCORE