NBL: Tasmania JackJumpers beat Breakers for second win

A barnstorming 25-16 opening quarter laid the foundations for the JackJumpers, who found their shooting range early as Clint Steindl (14 points) nailed three-pointers at will while Will Magnay dished off multiple assists.

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Magnay was so pivotal to Tasmania's nine-point lead at quarter time, Breakers coach Dan Shamir was left asking his players not to target the former New Orleans Pelican at a first-quarter time-out.

Head coach Scott Roth had promised Tasmania was working on their offence after a series of poor shooting nights during their away stint on the mainland and it was finally showcased in front of their fanbase.

They got more out of their bench as Fabijan Krslovic (11 points), Steindl and Jarrad Weeks all scored above their season averages and racked up the most fast-break points (20) since their season-opening win against Brisbane.

Steindl praised the bench unit for their efforts against the Breakers, which delivered 40 points to New Zealand's 26 off the pine.

"To be honest, we're following the role of Matt Kenyon, he goes out there he's got no agenda, he just gets after it," he said post-game.

"I'd have to stay between him, Fab (Krslovic) and (Jarred) Bairstow, they're the engine room of that bench and we're just following in their footsteps and bringing energy."

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The crucial factor was the JackJumpers found their way to the line while Josh Adams (21 points, 10 from 11 free-throws) cut the Breakers with a thousand cuts as the import and Tasmania's attacking core decided to go into the paint rather than settle for a difficult three-point attempt.

Adams gave some insight into the JackJumpers' adjusted attacking mindset which had been a focus on the practice court.

"That's been the focus for the past week we've been doing pretty good at getting to the rim against Perth as well against [Sydney] and we just didn't convert," he said.

"So we made it a point to either convert or get fouled, we're going to keep improving this is 14 new guys."

The result was the JackJumpers' best shooting performance of the season as they notched 29-62 from the floor, 9-20 from the perimeter and 17-21 from the free-throw line which enabled them to post 50 points at the half-time break.

The JackJumpers' monstrous first-half, combined with the Breakers' wayward shooting (26-69 from the floor and 4-27 from the perimeter) left an uphill battle for the visitors.

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The Breakers, for all their attempts to draw back into the game in the second and third terms, looked exhausted by the fourth term as the travel and schedule seemed to catch up with them.

Yannick Wetzell (20 points, eight rebounds) and Jeremiah Martin (24 points, eight rebounds) were the Breakers' best as they played major minutes on the floor but New Zealand slumped to an 0-6 record heading into the new year.

"This is two desperate teams playing for a win, the New Zealand Breakers are no joke, they've got a lot of talent, they played their butts off we played our butts off, it was a battle but we wanted it more tonight," Adams said post-game.

After squandering a match-winning lead against Sydney, the JackJumpers appeared determined to ensure history would not repeat as the Breakers cut the lead to single digits in the final term.

The experienced heads of Josh Magette (eight assists) and Steindl helped control the game to secure Tasmania's second win of the season.

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