NZ Breakers 77-66 Perth Wildcats

That’s more like it. Still not a clinical night of shooting but easily better than last week’s travesty. And anyway, this game was won thanks to some lights out defence in the second half that kept Perth to 66 points despite having 44 at the end of the second quarter. The Breakers move clear into first place on the table now at 10-4 and remain unbeaten at Vector this season.

After shooting 2-20 last week from deep (which was helped by a garbage time triple from Cedric), the Breakers knew that perhaps a few better options might be available to keep from slipping further down that rabbit hole. One of them was Alex Pledger, the other Ekene Ibekwe.

The Pledgehammer’s foot has been giving him more grief than ever as per reports, but he not only started as usual, he played as many minutes as he has since October. Some early turnovers and loosener jump shots caused a few stumbles out of the blocks, but it was Pledger who established things with some much needed points in the paint. Perth were up by 6 at the end of the first, with former Breaker Shawn Redhage doing plenty of damage alongside imports DeAndre Daniels and Jermaine Beal.

Some of the shooting woes carried on into this game. Abercrombie and Carter both had off nights (a combined 3-16 FGs). Add to that some foul troubles and at half time the Wildcats were up by 12. The third quarter was a different story entirely. From being down 32-44, the Breakers surged away from the start of the third, taking their first lead of the night at 48-46 – a 16-2 run! The Perth trio of Beal/Daniels/Redhage went 1-9 during that stretch as Cedric stuffing the box score with a little bit of everything. Up 2 at the end of the third, the Breakers took Peter Tosh’s advice and didn’t look back.

Very Old School Music video :)

Uncle Kenny had a night. He top scored with 18 points from 8-8 shooting. He didn’t miss a shot! He was already top of the league in field goal percentage and that lead’s only gonna be padded with this haul. It was his usual story of slamming the rim with dunks, alley-oops and layups and it was glorious to watch. He had a cheeky 4 rebounds too.

As for Pledger? He tied his season high of 13 points and added 6 boards. Cedric was as influential as ever with 15/7/5 (and a couple steals) while Corey Webster hit 4-7 from 3pt for 14/3/3.

After a few weekends off, the Breakers now fly to Melly to play United on Sunday.

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – It’s lovely to see Alex Pledger doing this again. He won’t be able to keep it up game after game given that his foot still urgently needs surgery. But if he can every now and then have an impact like this then his delaying that trip to the surgeon seems more than worth it. His early impetus was crucial and he had a similar effect on the third quarter.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Mika Vukona fouled out for the fourth time this season, which is actually a big improvement on last year. Some of the calls were debatable as the Breakers were clearly unhappy with the refereeing throughout this game. Still, when you hassle like Mika, these games are gonna happen now and then. Getting only 19 mins on the court, he didn’t make a field goal and had just 2 points, although he did manage 6 boards and 4 assists. Mika was also a culprit in the early turnovers that allowed Perth out to a quick lead.

Key Stat

Perth shot only 35.4% from the field, 31.6% from 3pt and 53.8% from free throws. Plus the Breakers outrebounded them 40 to 33 and had a 22 to 10 advantage with assists. That oughta do most weeks.

Great win tonight against the defending champs. Now I'm bouta watch the Finale of Sons of Anarchy with my lady. #greatnight #blessed
— TimeIzDollaz (@Ebeks25) December 11, 2014