The New Zealand Breakers scored a valuable one-point win in overtime against the Perth Wildcats on the road on Sunday night.
Final score
Perth Wildcats 86
New Zealand Breakers 87
One of the best modern NBL rivalries heats up again with the Perth Wildcats facing off against the New Zealand Breakers in Perth. Join The Roar for what should be another classic between these two teams who have shared the past seven NBL championships, from 7pm (AEDT).
The Wildcats are coming off a tight win against the Adelaide 36ers, just scraping by with a 3-point win despite being up for almost the entire game, the Wildcats let the lead slip in the dying stages before escaping. New Zealand won both of their games in Round 5 and again have a double this week.
Perth will be without defensive stalwart Damien Martin who has been ruled out for at least 10 weeks with an MCL injury he sustained against the 36ers last week, while New Zealand themselves are battling with an injury to starting point guard Ben Woodside, to replace him they have named a new import in David Stockton who should be fine to suit up against the Wildcats for his first game.
Perth have named Mason Bragg to his first regular season game to hopefully cover for Martin, however he will not be in the starting lineup at this stage.
New Zealand took home the bragging rights in the last matchup between these two just scraping by with a 1-point win and again this game will likely go down to the wire, both teams always put on their best display against one another and it often gets heated so watch for the referees to try and keep it in control. Perth will want some revenge after losing on their home floor by a point and will come out firing early.
Prediction
The loss of Martin is huge for Perth but the home crowd advantage they have is always a big key. New Zealand just need to keep playing the way they have been in recent rounds and they will be able to overcome that crowd. New Zealand playing two games in three days though especially considering the trip from New Zealand to Perth being so long – they will be tired and Perth can capitalize on that.
Perth Wildcats by 5
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Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Thanks for joining me in what was again a thrilling game between Perth and New Zealand. Have a good evening and fingers crossed the Aussie cricketers are 1 able to play tomorrow and 2 make a game of it.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Big win for New Zealand taking down the Perth Wildcats by 1 point 87-86 at Perth Arena. Despite a big scoring night from Matthew Knight the Wildcats were unable to hold on in OT. A mistake that Jaron Johnson may have nightmares over in the dying stages of OT set up a Corey Webster bucket for the Breakers. New Zealand were leading for the majority of the game however Perth and their never say die attitude was on full display in front of their home crowd. Casey Prather fouled out with over 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter and it proved costly down the stretch. The Wildcats took the lead after Prather fouled out but were unable to score a basket with less than 10 seconds on the clock in the 4th, New Zealand then had a shot to win the game in regulation but confusion on the court ended in them taking a bad shot as time expired. Twice this year the Breakers have come to WA and walked away with a 1 point victory that is a huge boost if these two teams face off at all in the Playoffs. Leading scorers. Matthew Knight (Perth) 24 Corey Webster (NZ) 20 Casey Prather (Perth) 20 Rebounds Matthew Knight (Perth) 13 Akil Mitchell (NZ) 10 Casey Prather (Perth) 10 Assists. Corey Webster (NZ) 7 Greg Hire (Perth) 3 2 others with 3. Quarter by quarter scores. Perth New Zealand 21 Q1 19 20 Q2 27 19 Q3 17 19 Q4 16 7 OT 8
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Johsnon goes for a long range 3 but misses on the buzzer. The Wildcats again go down to their foes New Zealand 86-87. Corey Webster was huge for New Zealand, Jaron Johnson made a crucial mistake at the wrong time and it cost them dearly.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Might get cut again tomorrow.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Unbelievable. That is going to haunt Jaron Johnson.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Wow Webster. He hits a go ahead 2 with just 1 second left. Perth 86 New Zealand 87.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Mitchelll gets the 2 and it is a 1 point lead. Johnson then tries to pass it to Wagstaff and instead he throws it out of bounds, Perth 86 New Zealand 85.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Perth and their dodgy little cheerleader routine at the opposition bench during timeouts, i would despise it if i wasn't a Wildcats fan. 3 point Perth lead.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Johnson makes both and it is a 3 point game. Perth 86 New Zealand 83. Timeout.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Big miss and it could prove costly.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Penney misses a 3 and Perth gets the rebound. Johnson is fouled instantly and he will be off to the line. Perth 84 New Zealand 83. 21 seconds left in OT 1.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Jeez Penney would normally knock down 9 out of 10 of those.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Mitchell gets the basket for the Breakers and cuts it back to 1. Perth 84 New Zealand 83. less than a minute left Perth ball.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Knight gets the tip in and it is a 3 point Perth lead. Perth 84 New Zealand 81.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Perth is a fantastic OT time, You really need to beat them at the end of regular time.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Shot clock violation from the Breakers.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Johnson at the line to shoot 2. He makes the first misses the second badly. Perth 82 New Zealand 81. 2:45 left.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Wagstaff cleans up the miss from Knight and we are all square again. Perth 81 New Zealand 81. 3:14 remaining in OT 1.
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
Swarming defense from the Wildcats forces the turnover but Johnson is fouled before he can shoot it.