Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
MVP contender Parker Jackson-Cartwright has flirted with a triple-double as the New Zealand Breakers consolidated fourth position on the NBL ladder with a clinical 88-72 win over the Adelaide 36ers.
Jackson-Cartwright posted 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Breakers restricted the off-colour Sixers to a paltry 30 second-half points at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday.
NZ wing Mojave King celebrated his 100th game with 18 points, including 4-of-8 threes, while former 36ers captain Dejan Vasiljevic scored 15 points, all in the first half, in his first game back in Adelaide since surprisingly being released following last season’s grand final.
“I thought the difference was our defence in this game,” Breakers coach Gordon Herbert said.
“I thought we got some good deflections on the defensive end.
“Our guys did a good job of turning those deflections into points going the other way.”
Sixers big man Nick Rakovevic had the game of his life, pairing 29 points with 16 rebounds, while Bryce Cotton contributed 19 points.
But the 36ers misfired at 6-of-29 from three-point range and 6-of-14 from the foul line, to cap a horror 48 hours, after being hammered by 22 points by the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Friday.
Vasiljevic looked like a man on a mission from the opening tip, scoring the opening bucket and racking up 10 first-quarter points.
Meanwhile, Cotton had just two in the opening term, harassed by the defensive tag-team combination of King and Carlin Davison as the Breakers pulled ahead 23-17.
Rakocevic racked up 17 points in the second stanza to keep the Sixers in the hunt, but Jackson-Cartwright imposed himself after a quiet start and NZ still held sway 48-42 at halftime.
In a scrappy third period, Adelaide drew level early on but the Breakers, despite being held to just 12 points, still led 60-57 at three-quarter time.
Jackson-Cartwright splashed back-to-back triples to start the final term, which the visitors dominated 28-15 to turn the arm wrestle into a rout.
“I thought we were a little flat coming out,” Sixers coach Trevor Gleeson said.
“We didn’t have the pop and energy that we needed, especially at home.
“We’re in a bit of a grind at the moment. We’re facing adversity – now we’ve got to respond.”
