South East Melbourne Phoenix keeps slim finals hopes alive with win over New Zealand Breakers

South East Melbourne’s finals hopes are still alive but Simon Mitchell’s men will still need a lot to go their way to feature in the play-offs.

So you’re telling me there’s a chance.

South East Melbourne Phoenix has kept its slim play-offs hopes alive by defeating the fast-finishing New Zealand Breakers 99-89 but will still need plenty of other results to go its way to seal an unlikely NBL finals berth.

The Phoenix must win its last three games but also needs the Perth Wildcats to lose at least three of their four and the Tasmania JackJumpers to lose at least one of their three.

Even if all of those things happen, the Phoenix will be relying on points differential to oust the team in fourth place — likely the Wildcats, who have the luxury of playing all of their remaining games at home.

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’s been a staggering fall from grace for Simon Mitchell’s men, who started the season 11-5 but came into Sunday’s game having won only one of their last eight.

Other than crossing their fingers, all the South East Melburnians can do now is keep winning, and that’s exactly what they did in Bendigo on Sunday.

“There’s aspects that I liked, there’s certain areas of the game that we’ve been horrible at for a little while,” Mitchell admitted.

“It’s good to be winning, it’s good to get a win, we needed it.”

Munford (R) had a day to remember. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

The last time these sides played, Mitch Creek scored a career-best 36 points, a new franchise record, but it was another Phoenix superstar’s turn to cause headaches this time around.

Creek finished the game with 16 points as Xavier Munford took centre stage. The New Jersey native finished with 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 25 points.

The Phoenix chalked up its highest halftime score of the season, thanks largely to Munford’s efforts and those of cult hero Zhou Qi, who completely outplayed his rival centre, the in-form Yanni Wetzell.

The challenge for the Phoenix, though, was always going to be sustaining the effort for four quarters.

The side has struggled to close out games in recent weeks and had won only one of its past four final quarters before Sunday.

Coach Mitchell would’ve been pleased with his side’s ability to come out of the blocks firing in the second half and open up the first double-digit lead of the game.

The Breakers fought back once the life was out of the contest to score a startling 35 points in the fourth quarter — the highest final quarter score of any team this season.

Mitchell admitted it was disappointing to have bled so many points late.

“We’ve got to close games out a hell of a lot better than that,” he said.

“It’s going to be on my mind for next two and a half hours driving home because it’s another aspect of the game that we’ve we’ve struggled with, and we continue to work on and we want to see some results from it.”

The Phoenix held on but will need a miracle to live up to its name and rise from the ashes from here.

Big day for big men

Despite the pre-season hype, Zhou Qi’s first NBL campaign has yielded mixed results.

The 216 cm-tall former Houston Rocket hasn’t always had the impact around the rim the Phoenix would’ve liked, but he’s recorded double digits in his last six outings, including on Sunday.

Qi led his teammates to halftimewith 16 points and was instrumental in helping the Phoenix wrestle the momentum back from New Zealand in the second quarter.

“We made it a point to find him early and get him going early,” said Munford at halftime.

Qi finished with 22 points but another big man, New Zealand’s Ousmane Dieng, stood tall with 22 of his own.

Dieng has averaged just under nine points a game in his first NBL season but had eight by quarter time on Sunday and 17 by halftime. Perhaps most impressively, he shot at 100 per cent across the first two quarters.

The young Frenchman, recruited as part of the league’s Next Star program, is considered a chance to attract the interest of NBA scouts ahead of the upcoming draft.

Before too long, Bendigo locals may just be bragging that they got to see him play in the flesh.

Dieng could be contracted with an NBA side this time next year. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Breaking point

On Sunday, the Breakers became the first team this season to lose seven games in a row.

The last time the side dropped that many on the trot, Ousmane Dieng was three years old.

In their defence, the Breakers have yet to play at home this season due to New Zealand’s strict border protocols.

The side has also managed to remain competitive for most of its seven-game slump, notably taking the Wildcats into overtime in mid-March.

Nevertheless, NBL22 will go down as a dark season in the history of the Breakers, who will be chomping at the bit to return home.

Originally published as South East Melbourne Phoenix keeps slim finals hopes alive with win over New Zealand Breakers