Round 13 Game Preview: JackJumpers v New Zealand Breakers

GAME PREVIEW –

Round 13 – Tasmania JackJumpers v BNZ New Zealand Breakers

Monday 1 January, 4.00pm tip-off AEDT

MyState Bank Arena

Watch LIVE on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel

State of Play

Tasmania are coming off a disappointing Christmas Day game, where South East Melbourne played grinch and upset the home side on the special day.

They’ve had a week to brush off the Christmas blues and prepare for New Zealand who will be desperate to amend the result of the last meeting between he two island teams and continue their ascension up the NBL standings.

Tassie will be missing big man Majok Deng, who rolled his ankle in the Christmas Day.

On the other hand, the New Zealand Breakers have turned a corner with an almost fully healthy roster at a vital point of the season which looms as a dangerous prospect for the rest of the league.

Last time they met  

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

Saturday, December 9 at 5:30pm AEDT | Spark Arena

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 80 (Jackson-Cartwright 25, Lamb 15, Mathiang 11)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 97 (Crawford 30, McVeigh 20, Deng 14)

Jordon Crawford nailed 30 points to lead the Tasmania JackJumpers to a crushing 97-80 win over the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland.

The JackJumpers arrived at Spark Arena without MVP fancy Milton Doyle following the passing of his father while import centre Marcus Lee lasted little more than two minutes before coach Scott Roth pulled him out and didn't go back to him.

Despite virtually being without two imports, the JackJumpers produced a brilliant all-round performance highlighted by outrebounding the Breakers 60 to 34 including pulling down a massive 25 offensive boards for 21 second chance points.

SRT Logistics Coaches’ take

Assistant Coach Jack Fleming said “New Zealand are a threat, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve played a lot in Tassie (through COVID), so it’s like another home court for them, and now they’ve got their roster fit and firing, it’ll certainly be a challenge once again. Cheatham and Lamb are just the tip of the iceberg for them, their talent depth is really strong and with a clean bill of heath from what I understand, they will be dangerous". 

Ins & outs 

Tasmania JackJumpers: Majok Deng will be sidelined for ~4 weeks with an ankle strain.

New Zealand Breakers: TBC

Opponents on the Radar 
Zylan Cheatham - Cheatham was an instant go-to guy to start the season, but had a long stint on the sidelines with a leg injury. In his first game since late October, and with the scores tied at 67 with under three minutes left, Cheatham scored six of the Breakers’ next eight points to secure the win.