Phoenix make it 2-0 under Sam-Mac

He only has one more game left in charge but Sam Mackinnon is a perfect two-from-two with the South East Melbourne Phoenix too good for the wounded New Zealand Breakers, winning 88-62 in Christchurch.

Round 6 got underway on Thursday night at Wolfbrook Arena with both teams coming off last up wins, and missing key players.

The Phoenix were missing star point guard Derrick Walton Jr, but the Breakers were decimated in the absence of Mitch McCarron (knee), Max Darling (groin), Mojave King (cork) and Dane Pineau (calf).

South East Melbourne were again playing under Mackinnon as coach who was in charge for a second game since replacing Mike Kelly, but now will hand over the job to American Josh King following Saturday night.

But he is a perfect 2-0 so far with the Phoenix taking charge early in Christchurch and remaining in control of the contest the rest of the evening to improve to a 2-5 record on the season.

It was again a vastly improved performance in the effort areas with South East Melbourne ending up with 44 rebounds to just 29 from New Zealand along with 11 at the offensive end for 18 second chance points.

Matt Hurt came into Round 6 leading the league in scoring and the Phoenix power forward produced another 19 points and seven rebounds with Angus Glover finding his shooting touch going 3/4 from deep for 13 points.

There were plenty more contributors to the win for South East Melbourne with Nathan Sobey providing 12 points and seven assists, Joe Wieskamp 11 points and eight rebounds, and Ben Ayre 13 points and two assists on 3/4 three-point shooting.

"I'm really proud of the guys. It's been a big couple of weeks and we've got three games in seven days," Mackinnon said.

"I thought the guys came out with the right intent and energy, and we held them to (62) points.

"That's something we said we were going to build our foundation on for the rest of the season, and to a man they all stood up and did a great job."

Parker Jackson-Cartwright once again did what he could for the Breakers with 19 points and six assists with Grant Anticevich adding 12 points and four rebounds, and Matt Mooney 11 points, five assists and three steals.

"It's unfortunate, but we have to have that 'next man up' mentality and today wasn't our day," New Zealand coach Petteri Koponen said.

"We were not really sharp from the beginning ... we didn't shoot the ball well and couldn't get stops so we could make some runs.

"Offensively we couldn't find solutions, no advantages." 

Coming off their first win of the season in the Throwdown on Sunday, the Phoenix made the perfect start with a three ball from the league's leading scorer Matt Hurt.

Then when Angus Glover also landed one from downtown, South East Melbourne was out to a 15-5 advantage which became 18-7 when Glover knocked down a second from deep.

Joe Wieskamp came off the bench and then hit a three when he came on to put the visitors on top 22-7, and they were still on top 27-17 by the end of one.

The Breakers were never able to get closer than seven points in the second quarter with South East Melbourne remaining in control leading 47-35 heading into the half-time interval.

New Zealand did get back within five points midway through the third quarter following a dunk in transition to Jonah Bolden, but the Phoenix again responded and with a three from Ben Ayre just before three quarter-time, they were back up 14.

South East Melbourne maintained control the rest of the way to end up winning by 26 points for a first win in Christchurch and make it back-to-back wins under Sam Mackinnon.

Both teams back up again to play in Round 6 with the Phoenix at home to the league-leading Illawarra Hawks on Saturday while the Breakers take on the Kings in Sydney on Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 62 (Jackson-Cartwright 19, Anticevich 12, Mooney 11)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 88 (Hurt 19, Glover 13, Ayre 13)

BOX SCORE