Superstar duo Xavier Cooks and Derrick Walton Jr have suffered match-ending leg accidents because the New Zealand Breakers drew first blood within the best-of-five NBL grand remaining sequence with a 95-87 win in Game 1 towards the Sydney Kings.
New Zealand’s backcourt duo Will McDowell-White (19 factors, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) and Barry Brown Jr (19 factors off the bench) took turns in silencing the 13,145-strong crowd at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday night time.
Meanwhile, Jarrell Brantley (16 factors, seven boards) had the higher of the marquee energy ahead match-up with league MVP Cooks (eight factors at 20 per cent).
Cooks’ night time ended within the closing minutes when he limped off the courtroom, a couple of minutes after Walton hobbled to the bench with cramp in his proper leg halfway by the fourth time period.
Justin Simon (18 factors) led the cost for the banged-up Kings, who have been compelled to play catch-up for a lot of the night.
“We’re competing every possession, we give it everything we’ve got,” Breakers coach Mody Maor stated.
“Controlling the pace is very important when we play against Sydney.
“I felt we have been strong however nonetheless really feel we could be a lot higher.”
The reigning champions predictably attacked the rim hard early but a wayward 4-of-9 conversion rate from the foul line put them on the back foot.
The Breakers’ bench – led by the league’s best sixth man Brown – outscored Sydney’s 15-2 as the visitors took a 30-23 quarter-time lead when Cooks’ errant pass finished with McDowell-White’s alley-oop to Dererk Pardon.
McDowell-White’s expert penetration and facilitation continued to hurt the hosts who were outplayed in the second stanza.
The margin swelled to 14 points before Sydney’s league-best offence finally started to click against the Breakers’ competition-best defence.
Simon was pivotal as the Kings reduced the margin to 76-70 at three-quarter time but an unsportsmanlike foul against Dejan Vasiljevic to start the fourth handed the momentum back to the Kiwis.
Brown ran with it, pouring in 13 fourth-quarter points against a progressively depleted Kings outfit down the stretch.
“Credit to NZ within the first half, they made a bunch of pictures which saved us at a distance,” Kings coach Chase Buford stated.
“Every time we threatened a run within the second half, they’d a solution for us.”
The sequence strikes to Auckland for Game Two on Sunday.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
