OK I'll bite first!

Breakers will come down to earth with a thump I think. MU by 12. Both teams with quality backcourt so to be honest I think it'll be won by the front unit that dominates scoring and boards

PJC is a wizard, proven in tough euro leagues and mvp in Germany. He's so good at getting into the paint and scoring or passing. Can the defensive juggernaut of united stop him ? Imo they can limit his scoring but if his shooters catch fire the breakers could surprise. NZ have totally surprised me, again imo Kop is a better coach than Moar, but home court might get united over the line in a very close one.

Love PJC, looks fragile but he's tough and skilful. Not sure I'd put Kop above Maor just yet, Mody got them to G5 of a GF afterall.

Personally I'll be pleasantly surprised if NZ get the W in this one.
Coach Kop said in the last presser that he rates Melbourne United as the best team in the comp and I tend to agree. Lots of quality on their roster along with experience and very well Coached.
Be a good test for NZ and not the end of the world if they drop an away game to a quality opponent.

I agree re: United. Their lack of offensive firepower can hurt them, but they are the best defensive and most overall consistent team in the comp.

NZ have been much better than most expected, but I don't see them taking this one on the road. I think United by 12.

The physicality of United's defence will be totally different to the non defence of Sixers, not sure that Breakers will have the depth to go with United for 40mins.

I wouldn't bother trying to limit PJC because he’s going to get his, barring a bad shooting night, regardless. You have to limit the Breakers’ role players. You just can’t give Anticevich 3 threes in a row, be soft with Mennenga inside, and allow Bairstow to be a creator.

For the Breakers to win this, they have to be good defensively and really squeeze Melbourne. I don’t think they can do it. But I also thought Adelaide would be double digital winners.

Breakers are embracing their underdog status.
No one has expected NZ to win much of anything so games like this are a free hit out.
If they win bonus, if they don't no one expected them to anyway.

More of the same for NZ.
Halfway through the first quarter and 15-3

Breakers like clock work at this early stage, smart players smarter coach

25-13 at the end of the 1st
PJC just getting to where ever he wants and Menenga looking great inside.
NZ with the better D so far.

PJC is as good as they come, Mennenga gone from outside flakey to inside bully and scoring easy. Bolden showing heart, Mooney great foil for PJC unbelievable 1/4 for breakers.

PJC on two fouls early in second, not good.

Mennenga on two fouls now, United players whining constantly. Lopez showing how good he is except off the stripe.

Clear goal tend.

Lowery used to be a pain in the arse but I'm really liking his comments now.

Your playing against the best, fastest pg in the league and Rob Loe who'll be defending the PNR has played the most minutes for United.

Absolute coaching malpractice from Vickerman.

55 to 31 breakers, if I hadn't watched I wouldn’t believe it, united won’t lay down and Vickerman will make adjustments but breakers just put on a spectacular half of basketball at both ends. Can they keep it going.

Couldn't agree more screening nick, Loe looks like a fish out of water. Not sure why he was left out there

Lopez playing like a beast on the boards. Cruising to another double double it looks

Bairstow is a Brisbane boy, you would think that they would have had him on their radar instead of letting breakers get him.

Only a few games ago I would've been happy to let him go. Like coach kop another one I underestimated!

Breakers are unbelievably good, I'll take back what I said in previous weeks. There coach is the real deal, you would think a big euro club will be chasing him at seasons end.

Sixer fans should be feeling better, there result looking good compared to United

They're just playing so unselfishly and so clear on their roles.

Point in case anticevich played 13 mins and hasn't taken a shot. Bolden 21 mins and 3 shots. Start of the season he was throwing up rubbish anytime he touched it

Team, team, team, love it, led by the very early MVP PJC, and coach Kop. In the end united much vaunted defence was garbage. Hopefully nz can keep healthy and keep this going, all breakers were great in what they had to do. Commentary to night and refs excellent.

Yes Dunkman, being a local boy, you'd think the Bullets would have worked hard to snare young Bairstow. Buuuuuuuuut Bullets gonna Bullet.

Anyway, didn’t watch this game, how the fuck did NZ smash United on their own floor by 30? Sheesh!

What a game NZ basketball is looking good.

Their scouting of the opposition is first class & the players appear to be following it to perfection.

It was sad to see MU outclassed Ha Ha

Great job Breakers after all the travel they've had this season they are not missing a beat

I think we learned from that game that if you think five on/five off is the answer, then maybe you're not asking the right question.

The Breakers know their scout inside out and there's an unselfishness to the way they play. Everyone just does their job. The only weakness I saw was that Matt Mooney can’t be a backup PG and Lopez needs to improve his free throw shooting. If McCarron can come back and play some spot minutes to rest PJC and let Mooney play his natural role this team is tough because if Delly and Ili can’t slow down PJC no one will.

How strong is Lopez for a teenager!? Abused Chris Goulding then shrugged off Jack White. Him and Bolden just give the Breakers too much length, size and mobility defensively.

Are NZ now championship favourites?

- MVP calibre star in PJC

- Huge depth. Winning games with 3 players out

- Beaten Sydney in Sydney and Melbourne in Melbourne. Keep winning despite tough schedule and playing doubles every week.

- Brand new roster, brand new coach. You'd assume they only get better as they develop familiarity and the schedule settles down.

and no hangover from their NBA preseason games either.

Time for other NBL clubs to learn from NZ's recruitment of Euro coaches - more Moars and Kops rather than ScoMos please.

Couldn't watch tonight, but certainly not the outcome I expected. Breakers are for real.

Breakers are legit

EssenX: Mooney struggled against the best defensive guard pairing in the league, not sure many other teams will be able to apply that much pressure consistently.
As you said, Mitch McCarron will alleviate a lot of that by allowing him to stay at SG.

NZ look to be loving playing under Coach Kop. He trusts all his guys to get it done and doesn't over play anyone.
Bolden is getting better with each outing.
Menenga is starting to put it all together.
Bairstow can play both ends and is another ball handler.
Lopez could potentially go top 3 in next years draft if he keeps this up.
McCarron, Darling & King will be dying to get back out there with the team.

I def wasn't expecting a W and especially not that scoreline.

Loved the win, and agree with the comments esp re Lopez looking impressive

Lopez is 17 years, 6 months

For context, Josh Giddey was 18 years, 3 months for first NBL game

Hukporti was 19 years, 7 months when he played first NBL game

Lamelo Ball 18 years, 1 mth

Alex Sarr 18 years, 5 months

Even Gaze, Ingles, Heal were 18 when started NBL

Lopez is gun, got give credit to his coach but also Larry by turning the league around in the last 8 years approximately.

Not normally a fan of the Breakers but last night's performance was out of the box. The team's coaching, starters and bench were all great with 5 Breakers in healthy double-figure scoring including Bairstow-the-youngest and Lopez-the-even-younger-youngster.

One glaring negative, though. Mooney is a shit PG. Absolutely the best at everything else he does, but 6 t/o's in approx 6 mins (in the PG role) is not to write home about. To his credit, he did give the team 4 assists.

Shows how important a healthy bench is. If McCarron and/or King could have given PJC the rest he needed, Mooney can just be Mooney and focus on his scoring (he only had 17 at 6/10, should sack him!).

Another miracle I noticed too. CG43, not one flop (that I saw).