JackJumpers ensure Breakers' Hobart hoodoo continues

The New Zealand Breakers have failed in their mission to wrap up the NBL semifinal series against the Tasmanian JackJumpers in Hobart tonight – their 89-78 defeat taking the series to a deciding game at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Sunday.

Last Sunday the Breakers drew first blood in the series with an 88-68 victory based on defensive pressure and an all-round attacking game, but tonight it was the JackJumpers who brought the intensity, edging away after a tight first three quarters to close it out in dominant fashion in the fourth.

The JackJumpers were up 18-14 at the end of the first quarter before the Breakers squared it 42-42 at halftime, a Jarrad Weekes buzzer beater from downtown allowing the JackJumpers to gain parity.

And while the Breakers enjoyed their largest lead in the third quarter – by five points – the JackJumpers went on an 11-point run to take it away from them, Milton Doyle too hot to handle for the visitors with a game-high 23 points.

Breakers’ big man Dererk Pardon was again tireless, with 15 points and 11 rebounds, including five valuable offensive boards, with Barry Brown Jr, relatively quiet last Sunday, exploding with a team-high 19 points.

With Will McDowell-White, so influential last Sunday, heavily guarded, it fell to Brown Jr to make most of the play, although Frenchman Rayan Rupert did well in the first half.

Jarrell Brantley scored 17 points for the Breakers, but the visitors missed an attacking contribution from the likes of Thomas Abercrombie, who failed to score with five missed field goal attempts in 22 minutes.

The JackJumpers were up by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before the Breakers rallied.

However, the writing was on the wall for the visitors, and a technical foul late in the game on Brantley for arguing with the officials seemed an appropriate way for the Breakers to finish at a venue they dislike intensely.

They went 0-10 at the MyState Bank Arena last season when they were based in Hobart due to the pandemic. Their Hobart hoodoo continues.