- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Defending NBL champions New Zealand Breakers remain in the hunt for a fifth title in six years, but their battle with Adelaide for the fourth and final playoff spot could well hinge on the fitness of 36ers star guard Jerome Randle.
Melbourne (18-8, 1st), Perth (17-9, 2nd) and Illawarra (16-11, 3rd) have all secured finals spots, with the Wildcats clinching a world-record 30th straight playoff appearance, taking them clear of NHL franchise Boston Bruins.
The Breakers (14-12, 4th) moved ahead of Adelaide on percentage with a gritty 85-74 home win on Sunday over Cairns (12-15, 6th), who have finally dropped out of playoff contention.
Both Adelaide and the Breakers face a brace of formidable final-round fixtures against teams higher on the ladder.
The Breakers play Melbourne at home on Friday and away on Sunday.
The task is no easier for Adelaide, who have a daunting road double looming away to Illawarra on Friday and Perth two days later.
With star guard Randle sidelined by a knee injury, the 36ers lost 106-84 at home to a Breakers side paced by 31 points from Cedric Jackson last Thursday, and 95-89 at Cairns.
Randle was expected to out for two to three weeks, but could possibly return next week.
“If Randle gets back in I think they’ll make the playoffs, if he doesn’t play the next two games they may struggle,” Hawks coach Rob Beveridge told AAP on Sunday.
Beveridge welcomed back one of his own superstars from injury, with Kirk Penney returning to action with a 28-point haul in the Hawks’ 104-97 home win over Townsville (9-17, 7th).
“He’s got this aura about him that gives so much confidence to the rest of the group,” Beveridge said.
“I think that’s what we were lacking those four games that he was out, it was really really obvious that Big Brother wasn’t there to help them.”
Earlier in the round, Illawarra lost 80-73 at home to Melbourne, for who guard Stephen Holt scored 23 points.
Perth rallied from an early 11-0 deficit against Sydney to secure their world record breaking run of finals appearances with a comfortable 95-81 home win over hapless Sydney (5-21, 8th).
“It’s just a great achievement from a number of different players over an extensive period of time,” Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said.
“To have a world record of 30 years in a row is certainly a feather in the Wildcats’ cap and something the players take pride in, in what’s gone before them.”
“Certainly we want to carry on that legacy.”
Gleeson had the luxury of giving three of his starters less than 13 minutes court time, with big man Tom Jervis enjoying a career-best night off the bench, scoring 23 points.
“He led us in four statistical categories, points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots,” Gleeson said.
He hopes to have import forward Casey Prather back from a hamstring injury for Wednesday’s away game against Sydney.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.