The NZ Breakers have fallen to league leaders Melbourne United 84-78 at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.
A huge night for swingman Finn Delany couldn't prevent the Breakers falling to their second-straight loss, consolidating their position at 8th on the NBL ladder.
Swingman Delany was unstoppable, pouring in 33 points - 20 by halftime - on 12/18 shooting to go with five rebounds and five assists for the Kiwi side.
New import Levi Randolph showed encouraging signsnwith 11 points on debut, but NZ didn’t quite have enough against the talent-laden United.
Corey Webster added 13 points (5/15) on an off shooting night, while import Colton Iverson flirted with another double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Just hours before tip-off, NZ received another unwelcome dose of injury news, with key point guard Tai Webster to miss four weeks of action with an Achilles strain.
Breakers coach Dan Shamir said his side needed time to bond with multiple new players joining their ranks.
"We have hope in our team because for a long time we were short-handed, now we have a few new players and a functional roster," Shamir said.
"But one guy is coming off surgery and two players are new to the team. We didn’t make shots, we couldn’t really catch rhythm offensively.
"We are disappointed but we are hoping we can quickly start playing winning basketball."
Former Breakers star Scotty Hopson was the star for United, scoring 19 points to lead his team to victory.
The Breakers will try to return to winning ways against Perth Wildcats on Tuesday.
