Brisbane Bullets beaten by New Zealand Breakers as NBL playoff race tightens

Brisbane Bullets’ fragile hold on the fourth and final spot in the NBL playoffs has been dealt a blow, a nailbiting loss to the New Zealand Breakers leaving the battle for a postseason slot a desperate race in three.

Lamar Patterson will be frustrated with the Bullets loss, which leaves the NBL playoff race wide open. Picture: AAP

Brisbane fell back into the hungry pack chasing the final spot in the NBL finals after a nailbiting 91-87 loss to New Zealand at “The Armoury”.

The Bullets (14-12) could drop out of the top four by the end of the weekend if they lose to Perth in Perth, with the Breakers (14-13) able to leapfrog them and a desperate Melbourne United breathing down their neck.

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Lamar Patterson will be frustrated with the Bullets loss, which leaves the NBL playoff race wide open. Picture: AAP

Brisbane’s six-game winning streak was snapped after the Breakers held their cool in a tense and tight final quarter after a pulsating contest that featured a host of momentum swings.

The Bullets could have eliminated both New Zealand and Adelaide from the finals race with a win to leave just Melbourne as their sole threat to back-to-back playoff appearances.

But Breakers import Scotty Hopson had other ideas with 31 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the visitors in an MVP performance.

A Finn Delany (15 points, 12 rebounds) bucket in the dying seconds sealed the victory for the Breakers who were also well served by Sek Henry (15 points) and Tom Abercrombie (11 points, seven rebounds).

Nathan Sobey produced one of his best performances as a Bullet. Picture: Getty Images

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Nathan Sobey (30 points), Lamar Patterson (18 points) and Jason Cadee (14 points) led Brisbane’s scorers as the Bullets were left to lament 13 turnovers in the gripping affair when every possession counted.

The third quarter was a seesawing term with both teams enjoying the lead but it was the Breakers who held sway at the last break with a 72-70 advantage.

The first half followed the same pattern as the last clash between the teams at “The Armoury” in late December.

Brisbane would explode out to a double-digit lead only for the Breakers to claw their way back into the contest with a burst of three-point bombs.

EJ Singler in action for the Bullets. Picture: Getty Images

The Bullets scored the first 10 points of the game to have Nissan Area jumping but the Breakers recovered from the opening blitz to claim the lead late in the first quarter before Brisbane eventually took a 31-30 buffer into quarter-time.

The home side got off to another flyer at the start of the second term with eight unanswered points to again claim a 10-point cushion with Cadee connecting on back-to-back three-pointers.

But three rapid-fire long balls from New Zealand wiped out Brisbane’s fast start sparked by Sobey who had 11 points for the quarter.

Hopson was the money man for New Zealand with 19 points at halftime when the Breakers were up 53-52.

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis, Picture: AAP

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis said Brisbane’s confidence would not take a battering after dropping the hard-fought contest to the Breakers.

“At the end of the day I thought it was just a really good game of basketball. Two good teams going at it…they made some plays when they needed to,” he said.

“You want to be in these situations, you want to be playing in meaningful games. It was always going to be a tough battle and we had our chances.

“It’s important that we put this behind us now and go on to Perth and come out and play how we need to play to give ourselves a chance to be successful there.”

Match-winner Hopson said the gutsy win showcased the never-say-die spirit in the Breakers.

“We’ve been resilient all season. We’ve had so many ups and downs and been through a lot,’’ Hopson said.

“I’m just proud being in the locker room with these guys fighting each and every day. It shows in our performance today.’’

Scotty Hopson had his way with the Bullets. Picture: Getty Images

SCOREBOARD

Brisbane Bullets 87

Nathan Sobey: 30 points

Lamar Patterson: 18 points

Jason Cadee: 14 points

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New Zealand Breakers 91

Scotty Hopson: 31 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists

Finn Delany: 15 points, 12 rebounds

Sek Henry: 15 points