The New Zealand Breakers have qualified for their first Australian NBL final in seven years.
Mody Maor’s side overpowered the Tasmania JackJumpers 92-77 in their semi-final series decider at Spark Arena on Sunday night.
Import guard Barry Brown Jr. led the charge for the Breakers with a season-high of 32 points as well as three steals and four boards, leading them to their first grand final since 2016 and sixth in history.
The miraculous turnaround from the 2021/22 season was largely due to first-year coach Maor and the added home crowd support according to former NBL general manager Justin Nelson.
“The last two years have been so tough on that franchise,” Nelson told SENZ Breakfast.
“But all of a sudden changing coach, changing direction, some really solid recruiting, I mean they turned over a number of players and didn’t they get it right with their three imports as well, just (a) fantastic trio of players.”
The Breakers were forced offshore in recent seasons due to COVID travel and isolation requirements, meaning the 2022/23 season was their first with a home crowd advantage in three years.
Nelson believes it was the added support in combination with Maor’s leadership that gave the Breakers the final edge in Sunday’s decider.
“It just shows you how quickly you can turn things around when you’ve got the right belief, the right relationship (with) coach to players and certainly once that home ground can get back in and get behind you,” he added.
“All of a sudden things are on the up and well, they’re very close now.”
The Breakers will now face the defending champion Sydney Kings in a finals series beginning on March 3 at Qudos Bank Arena.
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