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Sixers trump NZ Breakers again in NBL

3 minute read

Isaac Humphries dominated at both ends and Josh GIddey was at his all-round best as the Sixers made it two-from-two against the New Zealand Breakers.

ISAAC HUMPHRIES.
ISAAC HUMPHRIES. Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

The Adelaide 36ers proved too much for the New Zealand Breakers for the second time in five days with an 88-78 NBL win at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The Sixers' youngest stars Isaac Humphries (21 points, four blocks) and Josh Giddey (13 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) were dominant from start to finish.

Finn Delany (19 points) and the Webster brothers, Corey (17) and Tai (15), were the best for the Breakers who trailed all evening, courtesy of the 36ers' ferocious start.

"I think mentally the group was really focused," Adelaide coach Conner Henry said.

"This is the first game that we've executed on both ends the way we felt like we could."

Giddey fed last Friday's matchwinner Humphries for an emphatic jam in the opening seconds to launch Adelaide's 13-1 foundation, which propelled them to a 21-14 quarter-time buffer.

Unanswered triples to Tony Crocker, Sunday Dech and Daniel Johnson pushed the Sixers ahead 35-16 before NZ, thanks chiefly to Delany, closed the half with a 17-4 splurge to reduce Adelaide's advantage to 39-33 at half-time.

The Breakers edged within one point midway through the third before the Humphries-Giddey combination seized the momentum back for the 36ers who led 65-55 when import guard Donald Sloan banged a long basket on the three-quarter-time buzzer.

Adelaide's advantage blew out to 13 points early in the fourth before Corey and Tai Webster combined to reduce the gap to five points midway through the term.

But the Breakers were left with too much catching up to do, their poor start coming back to haunt them as Humphries finished the match as he started it - with a powerful dunk - to push the 36ers to a 3-2 win-loss record and consign NZ to 0-2.

"We were very unhappy with this game," Breakers coach Dan Shamir said. "We got back into the game but couldn't finish the comeback.

"Overall, we couldn't establish any rhythm and flow. We have a lot of work to do."

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