NBL: Injured Phoenix star Ryan Broekhoff on track for early return

South East Melbourne is at risk of missing the NBL finals but the early return of a former NBA player could help turn the side's fortunes around.

Injured South East Melbourne star Ryan Broekhoff is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a shoulder injury.

Initial timelines on the grade 2 acromioclavicular (AC) joint strain had the former NBA man on the sidelines for four-six weeks but Broekhoff was back shooting the rock on Sunday, just 13 days after suffering the injury in a collision with Melbourne United tough nut Matthew Dellavedova.

Watch Every Game of the 21/22 NBL Season Live & On-Demand with ESPN on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

It means Broekhoff is a sneaky chance of returning to the court, ironically, in the next Throwdown with United on Thursday week.

“It’s a possibility, yeah,” Broekhoff said Wednesday when asked if he could suit up against United.

“It’s still eight days away, the rehab’s been going really well.

“It’s always hard to pencil in a game without being 100 per cent confident and getting people’s hopes up or disappointing people if I’m not able to get up.

“Got back to shooting Sunday and it’s been feeling better each time.

“It still gets a little sore and a little achy later on in the day, but they said that’s to be expected after not doing anything for a couple of weeks.

“I’m back to running as well, so it’s all coming along in leaps and bounds.”

Broekhoff is progressing well in his recovery. Picture: Getty Images

It’s welcome news for the Phoenix, who have lost three of the four games Broekhoff has missed so far and tumbled out of the top four.

After the loss to Adelaide on the weekend, coach Simon Mitchell called his team out for a lack of physicality and taking plays off.

Broekhoff says the players have responded in practice with some of their most physical runs of the season ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the Taipans in Cairns.

“It’s been ultra competitive, very physical, so hopefully that is something that will translate to the game this weekend,” Broekhoff said.

“I think players were upset with themselves.

“You see it on film and film doesn’t lie about the efforts — it’s now a personal challenge, we don’t want to be seen that way.

“No one’s trying to push the blame on somebody else, we’ve taken it on and it’s come from a place of love and of trying to get players better.

“I think the mindset going into this weekend’s game will be a lot more focused than what it was on Sunday.”

Mitchell’s Phoenix is at risk of missing the finals. Picture: Getty Images

Phoenix face the daunting task of winning each one of their last six games — and hoping one of Melbourne, Perth, Sydney or Illawarra falters.

“It’s not the ideal situation to have to rely on other teams dropping games, but we’ve just got to focus on what we can control and win as many games as we can to give ourselves a chance,” Broekhoff said.

“There will always be a little bit of a peek at how the other teams are doing, but we need to focus on ourselves and get back to playing good basketball like we were earlier in the season.”