Breakers lose to Brisbane Bullets after leading in ANBL match

The New Zealand Breakers suffered their first defeat of the NBL season, losing 88-85 to the Brisbane Bullets on Tuesday night. The game took place at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane. The Breakers held an 11-point lead early in the third quarter before Brisbane responded with a 43-29 scoring run to win.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright led the Breakers with 26 points and seven assists. Arnas Velička controlled the game for the Bullets, finishing with 23 points, 14 assists, and five rebounds. Tyrell Harrison also contributed 22 points and seven rebounds for Brisbane.

The Breakers struggled with rebounding, losing the count 47-30 and allowing 15 offensive boards. Coach Gordie Herbert noted that the team played well for 25 minutes but suffered a bad spurt. "For 25 minutes we played really well, then we had a really down time, we were up by 10 or 11 and actually went down by 7," Herbert said.

The loss follows the Breakers' season-opening win against the Illawarra Hawks. The team will next travel to Perth to play the Wildcats on Saturday.

Where reports differ

• One report states the Breakers were up by seven points after the first quarter, while another states they led by seven at halftime

Compiled from reports by Stuff and The Post.