Timmins Impresses in NBL Debut

NZ NBL MVP and Development Player Sam Timmins has made his long awaited A NBL debut in the 83-60 loss to champions Melbourne United at John Cain Arena.

Timmins played 15 minutes making all three of his shots while snatching three rebounds with Head Coach Dan Shamir saying afterwards that the big man deserved more minutes.

Despite the loss, the score does not reflect how hard United were made to work for the victory.

Chris Goulding became the difference in the second half and the Melbourne captain opened up the second half with a three-pointer. He would hit a couple more throughout the quarter with United able to turn into the fourth term with a 52-43 edge.

The Breakers, though, was still staying in touch and trailed by just six when Finn Delany hit a three midway through the fourth quarter.

Goulding would have none of it, though, and three dagger threes in the final minutes as part of an 11-0 run that turned an eight

It was a tough finish to the game for the Breakers who just ran out of gas without captain Tom Abercrombie and new import Chasson Randle.

Finn Delany put up 14 points and nine rebounds for the now 0-5 Breakers with Yanni Wetzell adding 12 points and four rebounds.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir was lamenting the tough position his team finds themselves in.

"We struggled defensively and in a lot of areas including creating shots and shooting the ball, but creating shots was Number one" Shamir said.

"At some point the game went away from us and it's obviously the story of not only today's game, but part of the bigger picture. These are tough times for us and we have to just figure it out."

The start for Melbourne was starting to hark back to their 26-0 opening on Thursday against Sydney on the same floor. With Caleb Agada hitting a couple of threes and Jo Lual-Acuil imposing himself inside, Melbourne went up 14-4.

However, unlike the Kings on Thursday, the Breakers were able to stem the tide and with Yanni Wetzell again finding a way to score inside, they hit eight of the next 10 points even though United remained on top 21-14 after one.

It became quite the defensive grind in the second term with plenty of turnovers, missed shots on offensive fouls called. It was New Zealand who found a way to score first, though, with Finn Delany and Will McDowell-White connecting on triples to make it a one-point game.

It was a late three from Melbourne captain Chris Goulding that helped the home side remain on top 34-31 at the break though.

point lead into a 19-point advantage before Melbourne won by 23.

It's the last game now for both teams until after Christmas which sees them each in action on Boxing Day. The Breakers face the JackJumpers in Hobart while United take on the Kings in Sydney.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 3

MELBOURNE UNITED 83 (Goulding 21, Agada 20, Lual-Acuil 12)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 60 (Delany 14, Wetzell 12, Besson 8) 

BOX SCORE