Melbourne United 87-92 NZ Breakers

For a few short hours on Sunday the Breakers slipped from first place. Then they beat Melbourne in Melbourne and hahahahaha!

Man but it was a close one. Any win away from home is a good win in this league and every one of them is hard earned. Be it through the kilometres on the plane or the sweat on the court. No player embodies that fighting spirit better than Mika Vukona and in this game he broke the Breakers record for games played with his 251st. Good on ya, bro.

Melbourne got off to a quick start but the Breakers pulled them back and Cedric tied things up right at the end of the first quarter with a corner three. Tai Wesley gave things a boost at the start of the second. Things went back and forth for a bit until the third quarter began with a few Breakers turnovers and some Melbourne buckets. Shots were falling when they had to though. Abercrombie hit a tough treble and Webster added a few baskets to help NZB soar ahead.

The lead got as high as 10 points with 7 minutes to play however Melbourne still had a late comeback in them. Melly took the lead back at 82-80 before Mika was able to make something of nothing for a layup as the shot clock expired. Cedric parted the seas to get to the rim for a key layup of his own but a corner three from Jordan McCrae gave United the lead with under a minute to play. Somebody had to make something happen, the Breakers needed points and as Cedric’s floater bounce away off the rim, Uncle Kenny rose to tip it in with 31 seconds left. Worthington missed a jumper on the next possession, and the Breakers were able to ice this bad boy at the free throw line – Corey Webster adding four of ‘em. With a few Melbourne players already at the mercy of the scorers with their foul counts, that was enough.

Webster top scored for the Breakers with 19 – he was one of five players in double figures. He did it from 12 shots too. Add in some Cedric 18/5/6 action, 10 from Abercrombie and 11 from Vukona and the starters all made contributions (Pledger had 8p & 4r in 13 minutes). Things were a little quieter than usual for Ibekwe (until that crucial tip-in) but Tai Wesley had his best game in ages with 10/7 off the bench (4-4 shooting) in 14 minutes. Melbourne’s starters all put up too, led by Stephen Dennis’ 24 and Dan Kickert’s 20… but their bench gave them nothing. Three of those starters (Kickert, Barlow and McRae) would foul out.

9-22 from 3pt wasn’t especially great from the Breakers but it was better than the 9-26 that Melbourne had. This is a United team that broke the ANBL record for made threes a few weeks back. It’s their best weapon and the Breakers kept it quiet.

A top result after a quick turnaround. It’s back to the North Shore on Friday to play Townsville before jetting to Cairns on Sunday for the short turnaround.

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Tai Wesley had a great game. He hasn’t shown the dominant post game that he teased us with at the start of the season for a while but this was lovely. He’s strong and aggressive enough to carve out space for himself, then he just steps back and lets it fly. When that shot’s on it’s a dangerous one.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Ah, maybe Duane Bailey, who for the fifth time this season failed to get on the court – four of the five coming in road games. He’s only four times played 10 or more minutes. RELEASE THE BOPPER!s

Key Stat

The Breakers’ bench outscored Melbourne’s 26 to 9.

Play of the Game

Let’s enjoy Mika’s crucial spinny, backwardsy, reversey layup-ey dos pointer, since it was his record-breaking day anyway. Prime Mika.

Match MVP Points

Corey Webster – 3

Tai Webster – 2

Cedric Jackson – 1

Mika Vukona – 1

Season MVP Standings

Cedric Jackson – 23

Ekene Ibekwe – 19

Corey Webster – 17

Mika Vukona – 10

Up Next

Friday, 7.30pm: NZ Breakers vs Townsville Crocs, North Shore Events Centre (NZT)