Game Preview: Taipans v Breakers

Facing a New Zealand lineup that hasn’t won since 16 January –  the Taipans will be flying into Auckland full of confidence after winning three of their last four games, including an unforgettable double-overtime win in Perth.

Taran Armstrong (back) will return to action whilst both Jonah Antonio (illness) and AK Gak (personal) have both remained in Cairns, with Breakers missing star Parker Jackson-Cartwright who sustained a blow to the mid-section last round as well as Max Darling (illness).

Where and When

Saturday, February 1 at Spark Arena, Auckland (4:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Their Last Battle: Cairns Taipans (68) v New Zealand Breakers (92) in Round 14

Winning three of their last four road games, the Taipans are posing to make a late charge towards the end of the season. The Breakers have only won three of their last 19 games – but two of those victories were against Cairns.

After taking down two of the top sides across Round 18 – including a double overtime thriller in Perth – the Taipans have had a chance to rest before facing ninth placed New Zealand, a team that they haven’t been able to defeat this season.

Big man strength 💪

Tanner draws the foul and gets the bucket!

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/ALpXR5WbCB

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) January 25, 2025

Putting up a dominant 21 points and 12 rebounds in his last appearance against the Taipans despite fouling out, Tacko Fall has since struggled to maintain his output and has barely reached half of his performance on New Year’s Eve.

However, the American has still had a positive impact across his time on the court with his average plus/minus remaining in the positive despite their string of losses, and has failed to miss a shot across his last two games despite going three of nine at the free throw line across the same period.

His Round 14 performance was crucial in snapping the Breaker’s eight-game losing streak with his 10-point and five-board first quarter setting the tone for the night. New Zealand will be looking to fire him up again when he faces Cairns once more.

Facing him will be the Taipan’s own American center, with Tanner Groves growing into his role across January. Averaging nearly 20 points and eight boards per game, Groves has also been able to convert his drawn fouls having only missed two free throws from 17 attempts across last month.

Rolling out alongside him, Kyrin Galloway is also making a major impact despite not directly contributing to the scoreboard, including ending with a differential of +13 in Cairns’ win in Illawarra despite only putting up two points. Not being blocked since 2 November, the forward has had more luck than his opponents at the opposite end – recording 22 blocks of his own since that date.

Player to Watch

Quietly working under the radar this season, Pedro Bradshaw averaged 14.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists over Round 18, and was the Taipan who levelled the score in Perth to send the fixture to overtime. Only trailing Sam Waardenburg in the assist column, the American is also ranked fourth on the team for scoring and has stayed out of the spotlight throughout the season to make major contributions – finishing with plus/minuses of +22 and +25 in the wins in Illawarra and Brisbane.

PEDRO SENDS US TO OT 😤

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/4gdmK4tU5f

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) January 25, 2025

Only turning the ball over twice across January, the forward will be given the task of guarding Karim Lopez and Matt Mooney who together coughed up the ball ten times in their loss in Adelaide - perfect for the Taipan leading his team for steals. Also averaging only a single foul across his last three appearances, Bradshaw is significantly less foul-prone to the Breaker duo who average just shy of three fouls per game, allowing him to get to work without fear of being forced to sit down with foul trouble.

What's Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

“Momentum is big, and this is what we’ve talked about during that losing streak – stick to the process and don’t get caught up in the results and the losing and stay committed to what we’re trying to get through.

“Naturally this week there has been an almost hangover from last weekend, in that there was a real high amongst the group, especially after the Perth game when we took the red eye coming back and there was a massive energy dump.

“But we’re just trying to get the guys momentum back up and going again knowing that we’re almost in a position to get ourselves off the bottom of the ladder, but we just want to do as we’ve always done and take it one day at a time and one game at a time.”

Taipans forward Pedro Bradshaw:

“It was big. A lot of the guys are obviously tired from the long flights and the double overtime game, but everybody is energetic and feeling good. Obviously two big wins like that, especially in a row over two really good teams is always big for anybody, so the morale is extremely high.

“Last time we played them they got us really good. Tacko really killed us – he’s an anomaly obviously – but we’ve just been emphasizing how to guard him when he’s in there during his minutes, and then what we want to do outside of those minutes.

“I don’t think that there’s any pressure. We’ve been through the worst of the worst already, and there’s three games left so the motto has been to just go, play, have fun and have a good time.”

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Taran Armstrong / Kyle Adnam

SG – Rob Edwards / Alex Higgins-Titsha

SF – Pedro Bradshaw / Kyrin Galloway

PF – Sam Waardenburg / Kody Stattmann

C – Tanner Groves / Dillon Stith

Breakers

PG – Mitch McCarron / Alex McNaught

SG – Matt Mooney / Mojave King / Kaia Isaac

SF – Karim Lopez / Sean Bairstow

PF – Jonah Bolden / Grant Anticevich

C – Tacko Fall / Sam Mennenga / Dane Pineau

Ins and Outs 

Taipans

Ins – Taran Armstrong, Alex Higgins-Titsha, Kody Stattmann

Outs – Jonah Antonio (illness), AK Gak (personal)

Breakers

Ins – Alex McNaught, Kaia Isaac

Outs – Parker Jackson-Cartwright (mid-section), Max Darling (illness)