No excuses ahead of Breakers' homecoming

It's been an incredibly challenging few weeks for the New Zealand Breakers.

They're no doubt tired, both physically and mentally, after a whirlwind NBLxNBA tour that saw them play three games in six days, only to return to Australia to take on Brisbane on Thursday night.

Of course, the Breakers are desperate for a rest, but they aren't making any excuses. They put themselves right in the mix against the Bullets, and now return home on Saturday night to host the Perth Wildcats.

"When we step onto that court, everybody will be ready to fight again and have a good game against Perth, and go from there," coach Petteri Koponen said.

"We had a meeting right after the game and everybody is already thinking about the next game, and recovery starts now.

"We'll try to do everything we can in this short period of time to get ready. We'll travel tomorrow to Auckland, we'll have a little walk through and get ready to try and prepare for Perth, and go from there.

"There are no magic tricks ... these guys all want to compete and get ready for that next game, and everybody's happy to finally get home after three weeks on the road.

"We'll go there, play in front of our fans and they are going to give us a lot of energy."

Superstar Breakers guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright did his MVP credentials no harm on Thursday night with another 20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, on 8/15 shooting from the floor and 3/6 from downtown.

That comes on the back of two terrific performances in the first-up wins over Brisbane and the South East Melbourne Phoenix, and then three strong showings in games against the Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

There's not much the Breakers can do about the physical demands from the last few weeks, but it's all about making sure they are mentally focused against Perth.

"I think the work starts now as soon as we're finished with this game and you have to have a good meal, get some rest and then get up tomorrow and it's more mental," Jackson-Cartwright said.

"Perth is coming in and they obviously are a talented team so we have to switch on and kind of just mentally get ourselves prepared, while doing the work physically."

Jackson-Cartwright also sees a great positive from what the Breakers have been through the past three weeks, bringing the group together in a challenging, demanding environment.

"I feel that we've come together and come closer the last couple of weeks, and even tonight we showed glimpses that when we're playing together and are locked in on what we can do on defence, that translates into our offence," Jackson-Cartwright added.

"It just looks really good when we're doing that and obviously you have to do it for 40 minutes, and stay in those pockets, but it's early season still and we'll keep moving forward and focus on getting better."

The Breakers host the Perth Wildcats at 5.30pm AEDT (7.30pm NZDT) on Saturday night, live on ESPN via Kayo.