No "demons" for Breakers in Kings clash

Monday, February 26, 2024

The Breakers are looking at treating their Play-In Qualifier as a chance to fix last year's Championship wrong-doings.

New Zealand head coach Mody Maor is using his side's upcoming Play-In Qualifier as a “learning curve” experience, as opposed to an opportunity to exact revenge for the Breakers' NBL23 Championship Series loss to the Sydney Kings.

The Breakers suffered a game five defeat to the Kings in last season's title-decider. An eight-point deficit in the final quarter saw Sydney emerge with an eight-point win in the decisive game, and its second NBL crown in two seasons.

Maor rubbished claims of any lingering demons from the defeat at the NBL24 Finals launch, and says the experience is another string to add to his team's bow.

"Demons insinuate that this is something really terrible that happened to us," Maor said. “This is part of the learning curve, this is part of our growth as a club, me as a coach, the players that were there."

"This is an experience that we can call upon and draw the conclusions that we've made from and put them to practice."

"We're definitely not exorcising demons."

A late-season surge up the ladder saw the Breakers secure the final Play-In spot on offer in the final round of the regular season.

A 16-point win over the Bullets in Round 20 all but secured New Zealand's return to the post-season, however a final day defeat to Adelaide relegated Maor's side to sixth-place and a do-or-die clash with the Kings.

Will McDowell-White went down with a shoulder injury in the defeat to Adelaide, while Finn Delany remained on the bench for the clash due to a reported back complaint.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New Zealand star Will McDowell-White has exited the game with a reported shoulder injury. <br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN2 via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach & 10 Play | Sky Sport in NZ ? <a href="https://t.co/OHCevjP8Hu">pic.twitter.com/OHCevjP8Hu</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1759106184127385868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Maor provided a brief update on the pair’s return, but it is still unknown as to whether they'll be fit for the clash with the Kings.

“[It's] hopefully not too bad, we’ll give it a few more days and we’ll know a little bit more,” Maor said of Delany.

“[It's a] very similar situation [with McDowell-White]. We're waiting to get a little more information before we know how this plays out.”

The Play-In Qualifier between the New Zealand Breakers and the Sydney Kings tips-off on Wednesday, February 28 at 7:30pm AEDT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN via Kayo Sports.