The New Zealand Breakers opened the Australian NBL season with a thrilling 91-87 win over the Brisbane Bullets.
Led by Kiwi forward Sam Mennenga, the Breakers built a massive 26-point lead in the third quarter, only to see Brisbane fight back in the final minutes. American guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright kept his cool, hitting crucial free throws to secure the victory.
The Breakers started strong, with Mennenga and Jackson-Cartwright dominating early. Despite missing suspended centre Freddie Gillespie, the team’s bench contributed significantly, helping the Breakers lead by 17 at halftime. However, Brisbane mounted a late comeback, narrowing the gap to just two points.
In the end, Jackson-Cartwright’s free throws held off the Bullets’ surge, giving the Breakers’ new coach, Petteri Koponen, his first professional win. The game was a nail-biter, but the Breakers survived to kick off their season with a hard-fought victory.
pretty cool mate good work
big well done to Hayden, congrats to him, sucks that the britland took the 1st, quite sad, but that part of the game, wish we won though, well done to GB and everybody else, New Zealand deserved it.
2028 LA Olympics here we go!!
amazing
good
Good job Hayden you gave it all you had
Amazing, I can’t believe we got silver, maybe we can win the Olympics if we try hard! Go boy!
Hayden must have showed a lot of the Olympic values to help Alex across the finish line
Hayden must have trained a lot to win a silver medal for us