8 Feb 2020

NZ Breakers keep playoff hopes alive, again

6:25 am on 8 February 2020

Just weeks after dropping the final second basket that sunk the Brisbane Bullets, Scotty Hopson did it again in a 91-87 win last night that could just seal a finals spot for the New Zealand Breakers.

Scotty Hopson

Scotty Hopson was again instrumental in the win over Brisbane. Photo: Photosport

It was sudden-death basketball for the Breakers with their season on the line and on the road against a Bullets team on a six-game winning run.

But the Breakers have now won five of their last six.

A dream 10-0 start from the Bullets quickly evaporated as Hopson became impossible to guard.

Hopson (31 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals) engineered a stunning win to snap the late 6-0 run that had seemingly secured Brisbane a place in the playoffs that included a huge Lamar Patterson three.

The win improves the Breakers to 14-13 and they play the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Christchurch next Friday. Win that and they go to 15-13 and it puts the pressure right back on Brisbane.

The Bullets are now 14-12 and while they could win their last two games and extinguish New Zealand hopes, winning in Perth on Sunday or at home to Cairns next Saturday are significant challenges.

With the Breakers holding a superior percentage, either way the Bullets need to finish with one more win.

The New Zealand roster has been dogged by injury all season and were still without Jarrad Weeks on Friday with his shoulder complaint.

"We've been through a lot, we came here and played with basically six players, started 10-0 down," Breakers coach Dan Shamir said.

"In terms of the basketball it was a late in the season playoff game ...obviously we were very happy to finish on the winning side."

An emotional and determined Hopson backed his coach.

"We've been resilient all season," he said.

"The ups and downs, we've been through a lot. I'm just glad to be in this locker room with these guys fighting each and every day - it showed in our performance today."

It was a furious encounter that had all the hallmarks of a playoff contest and the packed house had all crammed in for the ding-dong match-up between MVP candidates Hopson and Patterson.

Patterson was crippled by foul trouble, grinding his way to 18 points but spending too much time on the bench despite hitting a huge late three. Hopson, though, was clutch, but not alone.

Finn Delaney had 15 points and 12 boards in a monstrous performance which included a tough finish at the rim to seal the win after Hopson found him on a brilliant pass.

Sek Henry added 15 points, Tom Abercrombie 11 points and seven rebounds, and Brandon Ashley 10 points and five rebounds.

Matt Hodgson fouled out in the final quarter while Patterson was left stranded on four fouls trying to guard Hopson which proved the Bullets' undoing.

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis knows the job ahead is tough.

"You want to be in this situation, you want to be playing meaningful games," Lemanis said.

"Tonight was always going to be a tough battle and we had our chances ...it's important that we put this behind us now and go on to Perth and come out and play how we need to play to give ourselves a chance to be successful."

NBL ROUND 19

BRISBANE BULLETS 87 (Sobey 30, Patterson 18, Cadee 14)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 91 (Hopson 31, Delany 15, Henry 15)