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In the first grand final re-match of the NBL season, the Perth Wildcats will be looking to improve their level of play at home against the physical New Zealand Breakers. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 9:30pm (AEDT).
After winning the premiership last season, the Wildcats kicked off proceedings with a double header that didn’t go to plan.
The club have had to mix up their play style for this season, with a change of personnel, moving away from that half-court offence to a run-and-gun style, but clearly it’s going to take time to adjust.
They opened the season on the road against Brisbane, and in a feel-good story for the league, the Bullets came from behind to win by seven points.
It wasn’t a good story for Perth though, as they squandered a double-digit lead with some dreadful offensive plays, and a soft defence that hasn’t been seen from Trevor Gleeson’s side in years.
Perth then returned home to take on the Cairns Taipans, who put on a massive performance and almost had the game won, if not for a Jaron Johnson three ball that sent it to overtime.
The Wildcats then used their experience to rip Cairns in half.
For the Breakers, it was a match against favourites Melbourne United to get things underway at home. They played a fantastic second half, maintaining their physicality to pinch a four-point victory.
The Auckland-based club were not at their best on offence though, so the way they hung in through defence – which was extremely well drilled, particularly in the paint as they shut down the likes of Majok Majok and David Andersen – was impressive.
Akil Mitchell proved to be worth every cent in his first outing for the club, while Alex Pledger and Robert Loe added plenty.
Corey Webster and Kirk Penney working with Ben Woodside is a combination that has plenty of spark and potential, but for it to light up against Perth everything will need to go right.
The battle here seems to be that of Perth scoring enough points, for which Jaron Johnson and Casey Prather are responsible. If they do that, everything else will fall into place for the hosts.
Prediction
The rivalry between these teams always carries plenty of weight, but a seven-hour plane flight is never much fun, and with home-court advantage, I’ll take Perth.
Wildcats by 4.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the first grand final re-match for 2016-17 from 9:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to drop a comment in the box below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde