NZ Breakers 96-103 Illawarra Hawks

It’s not like there’s a good way to lose in double overtime. Any loss that takes two extra periods to settle it is bound to be full of tough breaks and missed opportunities. But when that loss makes it four on the trot and drops you out of the playoff spots then there’s every reason to feel this one got away.

Last time it was Kirk Penney. This time it was Kevin Lisch. The bugger scored a career-high 40 points to lead his team from the brink of defeat to a real statement victory, outlasting the home team (and a good Vector crowd) and putting them tied for first with the Perth Wildcats – who they’ll meet later this week.

As for the Breakers, they slip out of the top four entirely. At least, with seven games remaining, they won’t have to play these Hawks again (in the regular season…).

The thing is, it was mostly a really good game by the Breakers. They amended a lot of things that they struggled with last game in Sydney – like making their shots for one thing – and led for most of this game. In fact they never trailed in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 11 points with 5:24 to play. That is a deficit that shouldn’t be easily overcome and it wasn’t. When Kevin Lisch missed a three pointer with 14 seconds left on the clock and Mika Vukona swept up the rebound, that should have been the game. It would have been the game, if only he’d have made one of his two free throws.

Blown opportunities:

Mika missing both free throws with a 80-77 lead and 12 seconds left.
Cody Ellis’ three pointer to tie it up with 2 secs left.
Corey Webster’s deep, hopeful, potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Corey Webster’s missed potential game-winner at the end of OT.
Corey Webster’s foul on Lisch early in 2OT that gave him three FTs and the final lead.

So… not a good game for Corey, who scored 22, shooting 6 of 21. Perhaps the biggest problem with this team is that they still don’t seem to be able to win games without Corey playing at MVP level. By the way, this game probably went a long way towards earning Lisch that very title, given his head to head triumph here and Corey’s recent (relative) struggles. Of course, the Aussie golden boy Chris Goulding may yet get a say, though both of these dudes (and arguably Kirk Penney too) are well ahead of him. Cedric Jackson has fallen out of contention here after his triple-doubley start to the campaign lost steam.

Cedric was great in the early going of this game though, he made some important plays even if his jump shooting was once again exposed in the crunch. His surnamesake Catfish was a monster off the boards, he had 18 of them in his 31 foul-affected minutes. There weren’t many more important buckets than his put-back two to give the Breakers the lead with 30 seconds of overtime to play – even if that man Lisch then went and cancelled it out.

Jackson to Jackson #HardBall @NZBreakers @illawarrahawks https://t.co/fdYqraHH9V
— NBL (@NBL) January 17, 2016

32 points in the first quarter, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Plus they held off the Hawks for the most part in the second, keeping the lead into the big break and thus avoiding the horror 2Q of last game. But there was no denying that they were never on the same level offensively after that first Q, their shooting percentage slipping all the way. From their highest scoring first quarter of the season to a 9 point fourth that ultimately cost them, this game should never have made it to overs and the Breaks can only blame themselves for that. Against a shooting team like this, OT is always gonna be a lottery. As it happened, this was the franchise’s first ever overtime loss at home.

2 steals & a 3 #HardBall @NZBreakers @illawarrahawks https://t.co/cSPoTyybvk
— NBL (@NBL) January 17, 2016

A.J. Ogilvy had another fine game, Kirk Penney sat for a solid chunk of the late stuff though. The Breakers had Mika, Catfish and (strangely) Everard Bartlett all foul out, while Cedric and Corey ended on four fouls each. Cedric scored 18 with 6 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Pledger added 12 points off the bench, Abercrombie did the same as a starter. Catfish scored 11 to go with his 18 rebounds.

And that’s all over now. It’s time to start winning.

Highlights of the Breakers v Hawks in Round 15 #HardBall @NZBreakers @illawarrahawks https://t.co/Zq1TSuP89D
— NBL (@NBL) January 17, 2016

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – A dominating Charles Jackson with all those rebounds… that’s a Charles Jackson that can take this team a long way. He only finished 4 of 13 field goals against a supreme defensive team but he was there when it counted. His main aim is the same thing it’s been all season: gotta avoid those silly fouls.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Mika Vukona will never be slagged off in these pages. Mika Vukona is a New Zealand sporting great. It’s just that to miss those two free throws, it cost this team the game and nobody will be feeling that harder than the man himself. If you remember the deciding game of the finals last season, Mika was ice at the line late on. He’s better than that.