PLAYOFF GAME 2: Tasmania JackJumpers v New Zealand Breakers

GAME PREVIEW –

Playoffs Series 1, Game 2 –  Tasmania JackJumpers v New Zealand Breakers

Thursday 16^th February – 7.30pm AEDT tip-off

MyState Bank Arena

Watch LIVE on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel

State of Play

The Tasmania JackJumpers will host its first NBL23 Final, a must-win Playoff against the Breakers. New Zealand dominated the visitors from the tip in Game 1, and the JackJumpers will be looking to exact revenge on their home floor and keep their Championship dream alive.

The home crowd at MyState Bank Arena will be a huge advantage for the JackJumpers, acting as the 6^th man and giving the team the extra energy and motivation.

In order to remain in the Finals, Tasmania needs to win on Thursday night to force a decisive Game 3.

Last time they met  

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS – PLAYOFF SERIES 1, GAME 1

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 88 (Pardon 15, McDowell-White 13, Brown Jr 11)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 68 (Kelly 12, Doyle 10, McVeigh 9, Krslovic 9) 

The New Zealand Breakers started on fire and were able to keep it going to score their first NBL Finals victory in seven years beating the Tasmania JackJumpers 88-68 in Game 1 of their Playoff Series.The Breakers were playing their first Finals game of any kind since losing in two games of the semi finals to Melbourne United in 2018 and attempting to win a first post-season match since Game 2 of the Grand Final series with the Perth Wildcats in 2016.

SRT Coaches’ take

Following the Game one loss, Head Coach Scott Roth said "We just didn’t play very well. We did have some fightback but we had some poor turnovers, some self-inflicted wounds and just didn’t play well. Or not good enough to win. The good news is that it's a series so we just flush it and move on”.

“Our level of competitiveness is what I’m always looking for and I’m sure we’ll be quite competitive on Thursday and we will see what happens. We’ve been in these situations before last year. We were quite resilient back at home so we’ll see how it goes.”

Ins & outs 

Tasmania JackJumpers: Clint Steindl is back fully fit after a hip injury. Josh Magette will miss the game after facial surgery.

New Zealand Breakers: TBC

Opponents on the Radar 

It was a team effort in Game one with scorers across the board creating headaches for the JackJumpers coaches. Dererk Pardon finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots for New Zealand with Will McDowell-White contributing 13 points, seven assists and six boards.