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New Zealand Breakers vs Cairns Taipans |
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NBL New Zealand Breakers vs Cairns Taipans, 11 November 2016 |
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| Vector Arena, Auckland | ||
| New Zealand Breakers | Cairns Taipans | |
| 79 | SCORE | 86 |
| 22 | Q1 | 17 |
| 18 | Q2 | 22 |
| 22 | Q3 | 20 |
| 17 | Q4 | 27 |
The New Zealand Breakers play host to the Cairns Taipans on Friday night at the Vector Arena, at 5:30pm AEDT. This will be the first time the teams square off for the 2016/17 NBL season.
The Breakers come into the game on the back of a three-game winning streak after a 16-point home win over the Brisbane Bullets in Round 5. Cairns split their matchups with the Sydney Kings last week, winning at home 64-57 before losing in Sydney on the buzzer 77-79, thanks to a Kevin Lisch step-back jumper as time expired.
The money says that the Breakers should take this one pretty comfortably, but don’t rule out the Taipans. Their impressive ball movement and team defense will give New Zealand plenty of headaches.
Playing without explosive point guard Travis Trice and rim protector Alex Loughton, Cairns have had to look to their bench to produce big numbers and the call has been answered by Jarrad Weeks, Mitch McCarron and Damon Heuir. Once Trice and Loughton return, the exposure the Taipans reserves have had will stand them in good stead as the season gets down to the business end.
Things can’t get much better for New Zealand. They’ve been playing unbelievable team basketball and have kept the score-keepers busy, averaging 101 points during their winning run.
The only hiccup for the Breakers is the injury that has sidelined starting point guard Ben Woodside. However, it looks like that problem has been sorted as well, with the announcement of David Stockton joining the roster. The son of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton brings plenty of basketball knowledge from across the world. David played college at the University of Gonzaga, and played for the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, before taking his talents to Croatia. For anyone who watched his dad play in the 90s, seeing David in the NBL will bring back memories of crafty ball handling, sweet jump shots and plenty of assists.
Cairns will have to bring their absolute best to the Vector Arena if they are to derail the Breakers, if they are slightly off, New Zealand will make them pay.
Prediction
New Zealand by 7 points.
Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from 5:30pm (AEDT).
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