Basketball: New Zealand Breakers downed by Cairns Taipans in opener

 Taipans 82
Breakers 71

A new season, but the same outcome for the New Zealand Breakers.

An 82-71 defeat to the Cairns Taipans has continued the Breakers' losing streak against the Queensland side, following a 0-4 mark last season.

It's a curious statistical quirk - and probably an outlier - especially considering Cairns aren't exactly tipped for glory in the ANBL. Yet, they have had their way with the Breakers of late, and it continued at Spark Arena today.

The Breakers looked solid for a half, but their play slowly disintegrated as the Taipans slithered back into the contest. Led by import Scoochie Smith and forward Stephen Weigh, the Taipans hustled back from a double digit first-half deficit, with the Breakers having several players succumb to foul trouble.

Centres Rob Loe and Alex Pledger were both in foul trouble by halftime, and while they questioned the referees on their decisions, they weren't aided by the Taipans' procession to the rim.

Cairns were proficient through most of the contest at getting to the bucket, sneaking past the Breakers' first line of defence with regularity. Early, they were giving the Breakers a reprieve, missing several bunnies. Later though, they found room to manoeuvre inside, and if the shots didn't fall, they were at least drawing contact.

The Breakers were relying on the duo of Tom Abercrombie and Edgar Sosa for their early offence, with the pair combining for 31 of their 43 first half points.

With import DJ Newbill amongst the few waging war with foul trouble, it gave the Breakers an interesting offensive look. Kirk Penney - coming off the bench for the first time since 2010 - got some time at small forward, with Abercrombie at power forward.

The restricted use of Loe and Pledger saw the small-ball lineup potentially get more time than otherwise planned, and Weigh did find some success posting up against Abercrombie, of whom there could be an extra reliance on this season.

 Long a reliable contributor on both ends, Abercrombie's skillset has added value in this potentially egalitarian offence, and with the likes of Penney and Mika Vukona aging, his usage may increase this campaign.

Today, he was up to the challenge, and was the key contributor as the Breakers grafted their lead. Abercrombie knocked down three first-half threes, and skied high for his trademark rejections.

He was assisted by Sosa, who rattled home some jumpers with his leg-flaying jumper, but only Newbill was able to join them in double digits for the contest.

With scoring at a premium, the Taipans started to cash in. A 25-12 third quarter period was highlighted by Smith as he canned triples, while the visitors also got more scoring punch from their bench.

Newbill started to spark into life, but by then it was too late, with the Breakers' improbable Taipans trouble continuing.

Taipans (Smith 18, Weigh 17)
Breakers 71 (Abercrombie 24, Sosa 18, Newbill 12)
HT: 39-43