NZ's Melbourne statement to shoot clear

The New Zealand Breakers are the ultimate no-excuse example as they moved further clear on top of the NBL with a remarkably dominant and impressive 113-79 hammering of Melbourne United on Melbourne Cup Eve.

The Breakers did arrive at John Cain Arena on Monday night in impressive form having won their past two including by 27 points at home to the Adelaide 36ers, but they were still missing key trio Max Darling, Mojave King and Mitch McCarron.

They were up against a United team back on their home floor and having won their past three matches while also being back at full strength having welcomed back their gun defensive back court of Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova.

However, they could do nothing to limit the influence of MVP fancy Parker Jackson-Cartwright as he thrived as the playmaker for the Breakers with his quickness and creativity on show in dazzling fashion.

The Breakers put together a remarkable performance to end up winning by 34 points on the back of shooting 66 per cent as a team while hitting 11/19 from three-point range on top of pulling down 46 rebounds to 25.

The win means New Zealand is further clear in top spot at 6-2 and Jackson-Cartwright was brilliant with 23 points, seven assists and four rebounds on 9/12 shooting.

Sam Mennenga was the main beneficiary of his good work with 25 points and four rebounds with 3/4 three-point shooting while 17-year-old Next Star Karim Lopez continued his emergence with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Matt Mooney shook off six turnovers for 17 points and four assists with Sean Bairstow having his best NBL career night with 12 points and three rebounds.

Rightfully Breakers coach Petteri Koponen was full of praise for his team.

"It's just an amazing group of guys," said Breakers coach Petteri Koponen, whose red-hot team is still missing Mitch McCarron, Mojave King and Max Darling.

"We played Saturday, we had one day to prepare and we travelled here.

"Just amazing ... no words.

"I told them it was just beautiful to watch from the sideline today."

It was a horror night for Melbourne who had just 25 rebounds and shot at just 37 per cent with Chris Goulding having 14 points with three assists while Flynn Cameron added 20 points on 5/9 three-point shooting as a lone shining light.

Melbourne managed zero second chance points from 11 offensive rebounds in what was Dean Vickerman's heaviest defeat as an NBL coach.

"We didn't have answers at all for them tonight," he said.

"We were just really bad defensively. They gave us an absolute lesson.

"It will be a brutal review tomorrow."

The Breakers deserved to arrive in Melbourne full of confidence after the 27-point win on Saturday over Adelaide, and despite United being on their own three-game winning run, the Breakers wasted no time taking charge.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright took control with his creativity and explosiveness enable him to get inside the arc and then to either score himself or create for his teammates.

He and Sam Mennenga combined for 13 of the first 15 points with New Zealand racing to a 15-3 lead while defensively holding Melbourne to three points in five minutes was making a statement.

The lead was still 12 by the end of one with the Breakers up 25-13 thanks to a Jackson-Cartwright score on the buzzer and there was no let up in the second term.

New Zealand even turned up the ante offensively with 30 points and holding Melbourne to just the 18 on the way to the 55-31 half-time advantage in a venue they hadn’t won in against Melbourne for six years.

With Jackson-Cartwright and Mennenga combining for 29 points on 12/15 shooting, the Breakers were shooting at 70 per cent to just 34 from Melbourne while pulling down 22 rebounds to 12.

New Zealand didn’t let up throughout the second half either in what was a true statement performance in the top-of-the-table clash as they ended up leading by as much as 39 points before winning by 34.

United have just three days to attempt to bounce back on the road to the Brisbane Bullets in Mitch Norton's 350th NBL game on Thursday while the Breakers remain on the road to the Tasmania JackJumpers on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

MELBOURNE UNITED 79 (Cameron 20, Goulding 14, White 10, Krebs 10)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 113 (Mennenga 25, Jackson-Cartwright 23, Lopez 17, Mooney 17)

BOX SCORE