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Matt King/Getty Images
Will McDowell-White goes on the attack for the Breakers in Friday night’s game 1 of the NBL grand final in Sydney.
At Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney: NBL grand final, game 1: NZ Breakers 95 (Will McDowell-White 19, Barry Brown Jr 19, Jarrell Brantley 16), Sydney Kings 87 (Justin Simon 18, Jordie Hunter 15, Derrick Walton Jr 12, Dejan Vasiljevic 11). 1Q: 30-23; Ht: 54-43; 3Q: 76-70.
Where there’s a will there’s a way. And where there’s a Will McDowell-White there is a 1-0 lead in the Australian NBL’s championship series.
It was first blood to McDowell-White and the New Zealand Breakers in Sydney on Friday night as Mody Maor’s Kiwi club upset the Sydney Kings 95-87 in the opening game of the Australian National Basketball League’s grand final series in front of 13,145 fans.
The Aussie point guard, whom they are all seemingly lining up to sign for next season, led the way for the Breakers with an all-but triple double of 19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists as the Auckland-based club opened the best-of-five series with the all-important first victory on the road heading to Spark on Sunday for game 2.
READ MORE:
* The low post: How Rob Loe found joy again on Breakers’ run to NBL grand final
* Will McDowell-White’s NZ Breakers gamble hits paydirt with dream trip to NBL grand final
* Rejuvenated Jarrell Brantley hopes ‘special’ NZ Breakers group can sign off in style
McDowell-White, the son of AFL great Darryl White who only returned for a third season with the Breakers because of his strong relationship with Maor, stepped up massively in the grand final opener after having a relatively quiet semifinal series against Tasmania.
But there’s a reason his home-town Brisbane Bullets, the deep-pocketed Perth Wildcats and well-resourced South East Melbourne Phoenix are all in the market for free-agent-to-be McDowell-White. The Queenslander shone on the big stage as he knocked down 6 of 11 shots, all 6 free-throws attempted and added a pair of steals to a brilliant night’s work.
Matt King/Getty Images
Breakers guard Barry Brown Jr dropped 19 points off the bench as the Kiwi club opened the NBL grand final in style.
Barry Brown JR chipped in with a feisty 19 points (on 7-of-20 shooting), 4 boards and 2 steals in 21 minutes off the bench and club MVP Jarrell Brantley also left his imprint on this opening game of the series with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 dimes and a pair of steals for the Kiwi club. Big man Dererk Pardon added 9 points and Tom Abercrombie and Rob Loe 7 apiece for the victors.
But it was the defence of Maor’s team that won them the opener, as they held the offensive juggernaut that is the Kings to the 80s, at a 44% clip from the floor and just 31 from beyond the arc. They also stuck to their scout superbly to shackle most of the home threats.
Import forward Justin Simon paced the Kings with 19 points and 6 boards, while Jordie Hunter added an electric 15 points (in 16 minutes) off the pine. Most importantly the league-best Breakers defence kept league MVP Xavier Cooks to just 8 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The Breakers made much of the early running, leading 30-23 at the end of the opening stanza after making four of six triples and 9 of 17 shots and then by 11 (54-43) at the halftime break, behind 12 points and 6 dimes from McDowell-White and 10 points from Brantley.
The Kings made their move in the third period, finding just enough offensive fluency to get the margin down to single-figures (76-70) at the final break, but it was the New Zealanders who held firm down the stretch as they kept the home side at bay throughout.
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