NZ Breakers shoot down Brisbane Bullets to keep alive quest for second spot in NBL

At Nissan Arena, Brisbane: NZ Breakers 99 (Jarrell Brantley 22, Dererk Pardon 17, Barry Brown Jr 14), Brisbane Bullets 71 (Tyler Johnson 20, Aron Baynes 13, Nathan Sobey 13, DJ Mitchell 12). 1Q: 22-20; HT: 55-40; 3Q: 74-54. 3Q:

The Breakers are now within touching distance of the Cairns Taipans for the all-important second spot on the NBL table as the end of the regular season comes into focus.

With a runaway 99- 71 victory over the Brisbane Bullets at Nissan Arena on Thursday night, Mody Maor’s men improved to 15-10 for the season, with three regular season games remaining. They have now won two straight after dropping four on the bounce prior to that, and are 9-3 on the road.

The Kiwis sit third on the standings, but with the Wednesday night loss by the Taipans dropping them to 16-9, the Breakers are not without hope of catching the Queenslanders, and earning one of the two automatic semifinal spots. Aiding their cause is the fact the New Zealand outfit hold the tie-breaker with the superior points percentage.

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The Breakers have three games remaining, with Saturday’s pivotal matchup against finals-hunting Melbourne United at Spark the toughest of them. They finish with final-round visits to the Illawarra Hawks and Bullets (again) to round out the regular season.

The Breakers were paced on Thursday night ny another standout display by import power forward Jarrell Brantley who finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in just 22 minutes. Centre Dererk Pardon added 17 points and 9 rebounds for the Kiwis and Barry Brown Jr showcased his class in his return from injury to chip in with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting in just 15 minutes off the pine.