Basketball New Zealand

Breakers guard Phill Jones came in for some extra attention from the Wildcats but finished with a team-high 22 points (Photosport)

Marc Hinton, Fairfax Media
The Perth Wildcats came with the anger, but it was New Zealand Breakers sharpshooter Phill Jones who fed off the emotions best to deliver a decisive 108-94 victory in Auckland last night in round 11 of the Australian National Basketball League table.

In an at times tempestuous match that, during the first half at least, threatened to spin out of control, the Breakers took Perth’s best shot – and a few cheap ones along the way – and mowed them down with a super-charged run home at the North Shore Events Centre.

The Wildcats arrived clearly riled by Jones’ part in their early-season match at the same venue, won in controversial circumstances by the New Zealanders with the Breakers shooting guard earning a one-match suspension for “striking” Shawn Redhage.

But instead of getting even with Jones, fair means or foul, instead it was the classy Breakers southpaw who had the decisive say in a spirited contest that had a crowd of around 3000 in full voice.

Jones, coming off the bench for the Breakers, shook off some overtly physical play from the Wildcats to pour in 22 big points (8/16 FG, 5/8 3PT).

He was particularly lethal down the final quarter when he hit three big treys and unleashed his emotions when it became clear the Cats had been tames.

“I was pretty fired up for the game,” said Jones afterwards… “I sort of kept it within myself, but the whole week I was looking forward to playing.

“I didn’t want to get too overly excited and have it go the wrong way. I was pretty disappointed with the way I’d played last week.

“I didn’t shoot that well, and in the second half I managed to knock a few down and start to celebrate a little bit. So it’s a good feeling.”

Jones admitted the feeling was even more special knowing his big performance had come against a Wildcats side clearly intent on sending him a “don’t mess with us” message. “I think it went both ways.

“They hit us and we hit them back,” he said of the overtly physical nature which became a lot more reasonable after halftime.

“It was just each team standing up for themselves. There were a few cheap shots but it’s going to happen in a game, especially with two teams who are pretty physical. Neither team’s going to back down, and we definitely didn’t want to back down and let them run all over us.”

Jones also revealed he’d been massively motivated by what happened the last time the two teams met, and in the end it was the Kiwi who used those emotions to better effect.

“I’d never missed a Breakers game, and to miss one that way I was pretty upset about it,” he said. “I was fired up because of the way things turned out. Certain things get certain players up for games. I was just pretty excited to play.

“When I get excited that’s usually a pretty good thing for me and for the team.”

The victory – one of the Breakers’ most impressive of the season as they came back from a 13-point first-quarter deficit – takes their record to 12-3 and, importantly, gives them the season split over the Wildcats.

It was a heady display from the Breakers who also got 22 points and seven assists from CJ Bruton in a performance dripping with class by the cool-headed point guard who joined Jones in sending home the daggers in a fine final quarter from the home side.

But with Kirk Penney having a rare off night (six points on just 2/8 FG) – clearly affected by a sprained left thumb – there were some other big-time performances from Breakers players.

There was another double-double (17 points/14 rebounds) from the hard-working Rick Rickert – his fourth on the trot – a cool 19 points from long-range marksman Oscar Forman (7/10 FG, 4/6 3PT) and a heady 12 points-eight assists double from veteran Tony Ronaldson.

Dillon Boucher had another of those Boucher games too, grabbing 11 rebounds and making three blocks as he once again upped the intensity whenever he entered the fray.

The Wildcats will be disappointed they couldn’t make more of a handy early advantage, but they were held to just 39 second-half points by a big defensive performance from the home side.

Twice in the final quarter they couldn’t get a shot up in their allotted 24 seconds. It was hard to shake the feeling, too, that they spent too much effort trying to deliver the message to Jones and not enough concentrating on playing basketball.

At times it threatened to boil over in the first half when the officials allowed just too many off-the-ball shoves to go unpunished.

But, it must be said, they gained control of things thereafter.

The Breakers once again dug themselves into an early hole against the purposeful Perth side, falling behind 22-35 at the end of the first quarter in a defensive display that was reminiscent of the bad old days.

The visitors, shooting a rock-solid 57 per cent from the floor, played an impressive opening period – that’s if you don’t count the off-the-ball shot on Jones delivered by Redhage, who didn’t handle his emotions well at all and finished the match with just seven points.

The ill-feeling which simmered through the opening quarter reached near boiling point in the second when the Breakers made a nice run to win the spell 25-20 and close the gap to eight at the half (47-55).

But with Jones getting pegged once by Ben Knight right in front of the referees (no call was made) and then nudged twice as he left the court at halftime with both teams coming together in a potentially ugly scenario, it was game well and truly on.

In amongst the feral stuff from the Wildcats there was actually some quality hoops played, with bench forward Isiah Victor exploding for 16 first-half points for the visitors, and big Knight adding a useful 11, off just six shots.

The Breakers were paced by Jones’ 11 points through the opening two quarters and a quickfire 10 (all in the second period) from Bruton. Rickert and Boucher both hauled in eight boards for the half.

Thankfully it all settled down in the third quarter, a spectacular period for the Breakers who outscored the suddenly cold Wildcats 28-16 to turn their halftime deficit into a four-point lead (75-71) heading into the final stanza.

The Wildcats came back to level things up early in the final quarter, but then Bruton and Jones got hot and it was all over bar some rather exuberant shouting from the delighted Breakers players at the end.

NZ Breakers 108 (CJ Bruton 22, Phill Jones 22, Oscar Forman 19, Rick Rickert 17, Tony Ronaldson 12) Perth Wildcats 94 (Isiah Victor 25, Darnell Hinson 18, Ben Knight 15, Peter Crawford 9)
Breakers vs Wildcats Box Score (28KB html)