A dazzling triple-double from point guard Will McDowell-White has propelled the New Zealand Breakers to a comprehensive 91-71 victory over the Brisbane Bullets at the Silverdome.
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Playing just his 11th NBL game, Olympic squad member McDowell-White (13 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists) showcased his versatility to help the Breakers' emphatic bounce back from Tuesday's overtime loss to Perth, also in Launceston.
"Our players were heartbroken the other day but did everything they could to prepare for this game," Breakers coach Dan Shamir said.
"We defended, started attacking at the offensive end and got to the rim, then a lot of good things happened.
"I'm very positive about him (McDowell-White). Me personally, I love players like that.
"He has a feel for the game and the right mentality.
"I think he's already good and will get better."
McDowell collected more personal assists than Brisbane's entire team (eight) while import swingman Levi Randolph had 20 points (4-of-7 three-pointers) as the Breakers extended a 23-17 at quarter-time edge into a 44-27 advantage at halftime thanks to a 17-2 run either side of the first break.
The Bullets' first-half tally was the lowest by any team this season and the wheels looked like coming completely loose when the Breakers started the third stanza with a flurry of steals and dunks to jump ahead 51-27.
Lacking desperation defensively and zip offensively - Brisbane at one stage went scoreless for six minutes 27 seconds - the Bullets belatedly found something through centre Matt Hodgson.
He scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the third term, which Brisbane finished with a 15-2 burst to close the gap to 64-50 at three-quarter-time.
But the Breakers, buoyed by the news earlier this week they will be returning home in May for the first time since mid-December, recaptured control in the fourth.
"We turned the ball over 16 times and they had 27 points off our turnovers," Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis said.
"That's always going to make it hard.
"And shooting 17 per cent from the three-point line is going to make it tough.
"Particularly in that first half, we couldn't keep people (defensively) in front of us.
"I'm amazed they only had 44 at half-time with the way we were playing defensively."
Australian Associated Press
