Breakers brace for final NBL onslaught

Jan 18, 2017 - 5:32 AM An improving but desperate New Zealand Breakers need five wins from their remaining six games to gain a berth in the NBL playoffs.

Import point guard Kevin Dillard's buzzer-beater on Sunday gave last year's runners-up an improbable 84-82 win over Brisbane, and their second-straight victory.

They had crushed the Sydney Kings two nights earlier 92-74.

But Paul Henare's men have to pick themselves up for another double-header this weekend against Illawarra and Perth.

The Breakers' back-to-back wins leave them sixth on a typically clogged table, with only the high-flying Adelaide 36ers able to breathe easy.

"We'll take it one game at a time but we know each game is crucially important and we've gone into playoff mode early - we need to win these games," Henare said.

"We don't have any time for relaxing or patting ourselves on the back - we recognise it; we did the job; now we move on to the next one."

After a season ravaged by injuries to key personnel including swingman Tom Abercrombie, the Breakers' new imports are firing.

Dillard has settled in in record time, running the point admirably and scoring almost 22 points per game, while Paul Carter has also looked solid.

Henare praised the pair for their immediate impact on and off the court, saying they had added confidence and buzz to the Breakers' dressing room.

The pair had also helped lift the Breakers' shooting percentages above 50 per cent, critical for success against a clinical Hawks side.

"Paul is a bubbly sort of guy amongst the group and Kevin has just brought that confidence to the group that everyone's feeding off," Henare said.

Source: AAP