Returning to NZ aiming to continue streak

Adelaide 36ers will return to New Zealand in search for a second win this NBL24 season when the 36ers battle the Breakers in Christchurch on Thursday night.

The 36ers came home across the Tasman last month with a 97-85 win on the back of some clutch last quarter shooting from DJ Vasiljevic.

A big 27-14 final quarter sparked the 36ers and Adelaide will be confident to again repeat the dose against a Breakers side who has been hit hard with injury.

Expect New Zealand to come out firing, but Adelaide is back at full strength after the FIBA international break.

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THE KEY
Parker Jackson-Cartwright has been a stand out for New Zealand in his debut NBL season.

The 180cm point guard is a triple threat for the Breakers, he can score the ball at a high rate, he can find the open teammate and can run the team at both ends of the floor.

Jackson-Cartwright has averaged 20.5 points per night, along with 5.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds per night across the 10 games so far, and he is a key piece with off-season re-signing Will McDowell-White missing with a fractured fibula.

"I just go out and play with a chip on my shoulder and know that this is what it is, but that I have advantages as well," Jackson-Cartwright said.

Breakers captain Tom Abercrombie said Jackson-Cartwright will lead the New Zealand game plan and find the right option.

“His speed and quickness out there is tough to handle,” Abercrombie said.

“He does a lot of great things for us.”

The Breakers will need Jackson-Cartwright to improve with New Zealand sitting ninth with a 3-7 record.

“Having belief in my teammates and having belief in me, that's what it's all about,” Jackson-Cartwright said.

THE SECRET
New Zealand’s new import addition Anthony Lamb has lived up to his NBA quality expectation for the Breakers.

Since arriving in the NBL after the Breakers’ NBA trip to the US, the 198cm forward has averaged 20.1 points per game to go with 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per night.

Lamb is a massive outside scoring threat, almost automatic from beyond the three-point line and has been shooting at nearly 38 per cent from deep across his eight games this season.

Finn Delany will also play a bigger role for the Breakers this time around with New Zealand also missing import power forward Zylan Cheatham with a broken foot.

Delany was in the conversation to be MVP of the league during his last stint in the NBL and is back fit and firing after an injury-plagued pre-season.

“It’s a short season and we’ve dug ourselves a hole. We took a step out of that hole last game but we’ve let it fall away a little bit tonight,” Delany said after the Breakers’ 69-65 loss to Illawarra Hawks last round.

“We have to progress with great urgency about what we’re going to do. We always have enough, we just have to find ways to finish games and win, ultimately.”

DEPTH CHART
PG: Jackson-Cartwright / McNaught
SG: Le’Afa / Gliddon / McDowell-White (inj)
SF: Lamb / Abercrombie / Rubstavicius / Davison 
PF: Delany / Darling / Fotu
C: Mathiang / Pineau / Cheatham (inj)

THE FINAL WORD
Adelaide has spent the FIBA international break with a mini training camp and it has been “business as usual” for CJ Bruton’s men.

The 36ers must use the momentum from the second half comeback against South East Melbourne to continue the upward trend in their NBL24 campaign.

An opportunity to set new goals and focus on the next part of the season has been a blessing for Adelaide and this starts on Thursday night in Christchurch.

This match-up will put two teams eager for playoff basketball and the Breakers have had some injury concerns as they look to bounce back from last season’s grand final loss.

No team in NBL24 can take any game lightly and even though the Breakers will be missing key personnel, the players still at Mody Maor’s disposal are good enough to beat any team in the league.

“Losing Will definitely affects how we play,” Maor said.

“He’s the engine, he’s the one that gets us moving from action to action and he’s the one that gets everyone involved.

“A next man up mentality is important, but nobody can do what Will does. We needed other players to contribute doing other things they do well, and in a quick turnaround there’s no time to re-invent the wheel, so we tried to rely on the things we had, and obviously it didn’t work.

“I’m on the same wheel I have been since the beginning of the season. Find a way to play, get the team to do it, lose a key player, reinvent the wheel again.

“This is where we are now. Will is going to be out for a significant amount of time and we have ten days until our next game to find a way to play together as a team.”