NBL 2019: Sluggish Hawks hammered in New Zealand

It was the question Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge asked of his side midway through a dismal opening quarter effort against New Zealand on Friday.

It was a question many Hawks fans were asking from their lounges and they didn't get the answer they were after as their side ultimately succumbed to the Breakers 96-79 in Hamilton.

Breakers big man Shawn Long was a monster inside, slamming home 12 of his 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds as he made it look like men against boys in the paint.

He was ably supported by fellow import Patrick Richard who had 14 points and six assists, while Jarrad Weeks and Armani Moore both contributed 13 points from the bench.

With skipper Kevin White back in Wollongong with his partner due to give birth to their first child, Beveridge tinkered with his starting five, promoting Jordair Jett and Tim Coenraad to the starting unit.

It did not have the desired effect, with the Hawks outscored 22-8 until Emmett Naar's lay-up on the buzzer pulled the margin back in to 10. The Breakers coasted the rest of the way with a double-digit cushion. 

Jordair Jett led the Hawks scoring with 16 points, while AJ Ogilvy had nine of his 13 points in the final term and had 10 rebounds in a double-double. 

Todd Blanchfield had 11 points and seven boards, with Brian Conklin (10) and Cedric Jackson (10) reaching double figures for the visitors.

It saw New Zealand leapfrog the Hawks into seventh spot and leaves their finals hopes on very thin ice ahead of their home clash with league-leaders Perth in Wollongong on Sunday. 

A loss could well force them out of playoffs reckoning just over halfway through the season. 

Both sides traded baskets early on to see the match poised at 7-6 after four minutes. Three straight slams from Long saw the lead quickly swell to seven, prompting Beveridge to call a timeout and deliver what's sure to be an infamous spray.

It did little to stop the hosts momentum, with Long slamming down his fourth dunk while Richard had two from the line and a triple as the lead ballooned to 14.

It was part of a 13-4 run to close the term at 22-10 in favour of the home side. Finn Delaney started the second term with a transition slam as the Breakers continued their inside dominance.

Daniel Grida and Jett had threes but Long had a rare triple of his own and Weeks also chimed in from deep. Blanchfield kept the shootout going but the margin stayed at 13 midway through the term. Weeks’ second three saw it swell to 16 before Jett responded with his second from deep.

Blanchfield had two from the line and a lay-up from Jackson briefly got it back to single digits, but Moore's long bomb quickly shot it back out to 14 at the break.

Ogilvy and Jackson went a combined four of four from the line and a dunk from Conklin brought the margin back in to eight, but four points to Weeks and yet another slam from Long re-took the initiative.

Blanchfield and Moore traded threes as the hosts took a 14-point cushion into the final break. Conklin and Marshall Nelson combined for the first four points of the fourth, but Long continued his smash-up inside with back-to-back slams to lead his side to the finish line.