Breakers Bigger Than Backstreet Boys?

There were two hot tickets in Auckland over the weekend – the New Zealand Breakers’ Game 4 clash with the Sydney Kings, and the Backstreet Boys reunion tour – and such was the sheer excitement around the Breakers’ lifesaving win over Sydney, Brook Ruscoe believes there was a clear winner.

New Zealand welcomed the Kings to Spark Arena knowing only a win would keep its season alive. The Breakers proceeded to systematically break down the Kings’ defence over the course of the game, and the scoring performances of Jarrell Brantley, Barry Brown Jr and Will McDowell-White led them to victory.

Brown Jr threw down a rare dunk over Sydney’s Justin Simon late in the game – and Ruscoe says he’s never experienced a moment like that in his basketball history.

“I went back and I watched the game, and it didn’t do it justice. It did sound like it was loud in there, but when you were actually in the arena like I was last night – I have never heard a Breakers game or a basketball game in general that loud here in New Zealand,” Ruscoe told SEN.

“It was something special when Barry Brown hit that dunk in the fourth quarter with Justin Simon trying to chase, I swear the roof almost went off it.

“The Backstreet Boys were there the night before, and then the Breakers did their thing and it was louder at the Breakers last night than the Backstreet Boys coming back to New Zealand on their reunion tour. That’s how loud it was as Spark Arena last night.”

After two years on the road with minimal success, the ability to play in front of a raucous home crowd – coupled with a handful of key signings and a new strategy implemented by coach Mody Maor – has seen the Breakers compete in their first Championship Series since 2015.

The Breakers’ era of dominance in which they won four titles in five seasons from 2011-2015 is one of the most dominant, one-sided periods of NBL basketball, but success has been hard to come by for the organisation since then.

Ruscoe says the current crop of players has the vibe feeling like the Breakers of old.

“Now more than ever I’ll be at the barber shop, or going to get petrol, or grabbing the paper in the morning, and everyone is talking about basketball. It’s Breakers this, Breakers that, did you see it last night, how are they going, what do you know,” he said.

“It feels like the Breakers of old which is exciting, and I told a couple of the guys last night they don’t know what they’ve done for New Zealand, and how they’ve brought basketball back into the forefront. People are talking about it again.

“Coach Mody and his staff, they need a high five just for what they’ve done. If they can win it all it would be the icing on the cake, but they should be very proud of what they’ve put forward this year – they’ve been spectacular.”

The Breakers travel to Sydney to take on the Kings in Game 5 of the NBL23 Championship Series.

Catch the game live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies on Wednesday, March 15 at 7:30pm AEDT | Sky Sports and Prime in New Zealand.