The "Beauty" of the Championship Series

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

New Zealand Breakers head coach Mody Maor is embracing the beauty of the Championship Series as a survival of the fittest.

New Zealand Breakers head coach Mody Maor is embracing the "beauty" of the Championship Series as a survival of the fittest.

After Maor's Breakers earned a shock win at Qudos Bank Arena in Game 1, the Kings rebounded to take Game 2 in front of the Breakers faithful in Auckland.

The Championship Series is now tied at 1-1 heading into Game 3 on Friday night in Sydney.

The Kings' win at Spark Arena means the series is guaranteed to go to at least for games, and Maor believes a five game series is the best way to decide the champions.

“This is part of the beauty in a series. The randomness of one game making or missing shots doesn’t dictate who the champions are,” Maor said on The Platform with Martin Devlin.

“This is exactly what a series is. There are definitely things from a basketball standpoint that you need to adjust.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">General public tickets are NOW ON SALE for game 4 of the Championship Series ? <br><br>These tickets are flying, don't miss your chance to be there ? <br><br>Tickets : <a href="https://t.co/3aUjHUfDTU">https://t.co/3aUjHUfDTU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNBREAKABLE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNBREAKABLE</a> <a href="https://t.co/0AGsOBu0XG">pic.twitter.com/0AGsOBu0XG</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1632578499998515200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Breakers were a far cry from their electric best in Game 2. The Kings tightened their defence and managed to force a high number of turnovers when the game was in the balance in the third term - largely off the back of an exceptional performance from Foot Locker Player of the Game Justin Simon.

“The series is now a three-game series and we need to go and perform,” Maor said.

“It’s an ongoing give and take in a series so there’s small things to tinker with, there’s definitely things for us to be better at.

“You now have another chance to go ahead and be better.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wasn't our night, Breaker's come up short in a grindfest. <br><br>Bring on game 3 in Sydney. <a href="https://t.co/R24uWNpyrA">pic.twitter.com/R24uWNpyrA</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1632279009504673792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While the Kings are looking to win back-to-back titles, the Breakers are searching for their first championship win since 2015.

Maor is adamant that if the Breakers play their best basketball for the rest of the series, they have a chance to take home the trophy.

“We have a feeling that if we play our best basketball then we have a shot,” he said.

“When we do things at our best we are very disruptive to the other team. When we get you out of your game and we can play our best then we have a real shot.”

Game 3 of the Championship Series in Sydney tips-off on Friday at 7:30pm AEDT. Watch the game live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, and SkySport and Prime in New Zealand.