Phoenix find a way over gritty Breakers

The South East Melbourne Phoenix could never quite put the New Zealand Breakers away despite an early 19-point lead but did enough on return to Melbourne for the 102-89 win.

It was a first game in Melbourne for the Phoenix in almost a month and they kept their form going making it nine wins in their last 11 games.

New Zealand got back within four thanks to four final quarter three-pointers from Matt Mooney (20 points), but South East Melbourne answered with nine straight points to win by scoring 100-plus points for a ninth straight game.

New Zealand arrived at the State Basketball Centre playing a fourth game in 11 days and looked out on their legs early with the up tempo Phoenix taking full advantage with a 15-2 opening.

That turned into a 30-17 edge by the end of one with 69 per cent shooting with 10 points off five New Zealand turnovers, and then the Phoenix stole it a couple more times to start the second term.

Nathan Sobey pushed South East Melbourne out to a 19-point lead, but the Breakers outscored the Phoenix 25 points to 11 the rest of the way including a 12-2 run.

That saw South East Melbourne only clinging to the 49-44 lead at the half before hitting the last eight points of the third quarter to be up 11 heading into the fourth.

A late South East Melbourne 9-0 run secured the win by 13 to move them to fourth at 14-10.

Nathan Sobey finished with 28 points and nine assists with Joe Wieskamp adding 17 points and four rebounds, Matt Hurt 14 points and eight boards, Owen Foxwell 12 points, Angus Glover 11 points and four assists, and Jordan Hunter 10 points and eight rebounds.

"I'm super proud of my team and there's 40 minutes in this game and we led for 39:38 of it against a team that's finally healthy and is very talented," coach Josh King said.

"I'm happy with this win, really proud of the team and after they made their run, we stuck together and made some big shots in the fourth quarter."

Tacko Fall had just eight points and two rebounds for the now 9-16 Breakers but they did outscore the Phoenix in his 16 minutes while 17-year-old Karim Lopez set a new career high with 20 points on 4/7 three-point shooting.

Breakers coach Petteri Koponen did think it was another game his team had their chances to come back and snatch.

"I think we came out flat and mentally we weren’t there," he said.

"It was about concentration and focus, and we were not executing but then we showed character to fight back against a really good basketball team.

"It's frustrating because we had the chance to take this game but to beat these top teams we really need to play 40 minutes."

Playing back in Melbourne for the first time since December 21, it was a hot start from the Phoenix firstly with a three ball from centre Jordan Hunter before scoring 12 straight points to be leading 15-2.

New Zealand only managed two shots and four points in the opening five minutes of the game and South East Melbourne took advantage to be leading 30-17 by quarter-time on the back of shooting 69 per cent and with 10 points from the Breakers' five turnovers.

The Phoenix then looked like putting the game away early in the second quarter continuing to turn the Breakers over and then score in transition, with back-to-back Nathan Sobey buckets seeing the lead grow to 19.

However, New Zealand did well to stem the tide and then pick up some momentum heading into half-time including going on their own 12-2 run that included Tacko Fall having an impact down low, and Karim Lopez knocking down a three ball.

By half-time the Breakers had cut the Phoenix lead all the way back to just five even with Sobey and Hurt combining for 23 points and the home team shooting at 50 per cent.

The Breakers had the momentum going into the half having scored 18 of the last 24 points and it remained a tight contest through the third period until the Phoenix scored the last eight points going into three quarter-time.

That included back-to-back three balls from Joe Wieskamp for the home team to be leading by 11 but a trifecta of threes to start the final term from Matt Mooney had New Zealand back within four.

That would be the closest the Breakers were able to get with Phoenix having enough answers to never trail the entire game to end up winning by 13.

The Phoenix remain in Melbourne to host the Sydney Kings trying to make up for two losses where they have been overrun so far this season.

The Breakers do have six days until being at home to the Brisbane Bullets on Friday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 102 (Sobey 28, Wieskamp 17, Hurt 14)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Mooney 20, Lopez 20, Jackson-Cartwright 12)

BOX SCORE