The past eight weeks have felt like an eternity for NZ Breakers' import Zylan Cheatham.
Landing in Auckland to start his debut ANBL season, the American introduced himself to the Breakers faithful with an eye-catching four-game stretch, during which he averaged 18.75 points per game and connected on 60 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc for his new squad.
But that momentum came to a screeching halt courtesy of a fractured foot suffered during a late October loss to Adelaide, which has forced the Phoenix product to watch from the sidelines as his team has ebbed and flowed between wins and losses - but mostly losses.
Compounding Cheatham's absence has been an injury to key shooting guard Will McDowell-White, whose fibula fracture has kept him out of action since mid-November.
But in a double dose of good news in keeping with the spirit of the festive season, both will make their return to the hardwood for their clash with last season's finals rivals Sydney Kings at Spark Arena on Friday.
"It's been a long process," said Cheatham, who hasn't played since October 26.
"Pretty tedious and kind of annoying to be honest, but it's all part of it. Obviously, as a competitor, I want to be able to be on the floor and impact the game with my guys.
"I'm just hoping to plug in and pick up where I left off. Bringing the team whatever we need."
Both McDowell-White and Cheatham will be on heavy minute restrictions, with the nature of their injuries meaning they've been limited in regard to their conditioning.
With only one full practice under their belts apiece, they've also had minimal opportunities to test their recoveries in contact situations.
While it will take some time for each to work their way back into basketball shape, both are understandably eager to take whatever taste of on-court action coach Mody Maor affords them.
Maor wouldn't guarantee either player would leave the bench on Friday but given the Breakers' dire recent run, their injection would be warmly welcomed.
"You open your Christmas presents on Christmas morning," Maor said with wry smile. "Let's see how the next practice goes and if everybody is ready to rock – I'll be very happy.
"They're not here to save anything. They're good basketball players who have been out for a significant amount of time
"Their role in the team and the things that they each uniquely do is very clear to anybody who watches us play.
"They're going to need to fit n to how we do things and they're going to need to get into basketball shape."
Last year's beaten finalists have failed to build upon that momentum, plummeting to ninth in the competition standings with a 5-9 record, as a torrid schedule - exacerbated by October's gruelling US sojourn to square off with the NBA's Portland TrailBlazers and Utah Jazz - and injuries have combined to steepen their incline.
Friday's impressive road win over Cairns Taipans was a step in the right direction. The key now will be to try and string together the consistency that had eluded them to date, where victories have typically been bookended with defeats.
A more settled rotation will add plenty to that cause, which is why there's plenty of optimisim inside the Breakers camp they can get their title bid back on track. The emergence of 'Next Star' Mantas Rubstavicius adds to that sense of hope, with the Lithuanian cashing in on his first start with an output of 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal against the Taipans.
McDowell-White insists - despite their struggles - the team's morale has never wavered. Their 29-point demolition of the Taipans came after a 'players only' meeting, when he believes the figurative switch was flicked.
"I think against Cairns it showed we turned a corner," said the Queenslander, who's a month ahead of schedule with his recovery.
"It wasn't the coaches doing it, it was probably us. We got together as a playing group and really sorted some things out as a playing group that needed to get done.
"We know how good we are and we know our circumstances with injuries, so we're just waiting for a bit of luck really."
They will need more than a dose of luck against the defending champion Kings. The Sydneysiders have made light work of the trip to the Spark Arena recently, with seven wins in their last eight at the Breakers' cauldron.
The sides have only met once since the Kings prevailed 3-2 in the Finals series, with Sydney overcoming red-hot Anthony Lamb to secure an 87-85 victory on November 5.
Maor is confident his team can use their performance against the Taipans as a springboard to more success.
"The circumstances haven't been what we've wanted since day one and that's part of the challenges this team is facing," said Maor.
"We do feel very positive about the way we're playing and we've felt this way for a while now. It's been a few weeks we've felt we're done things the right way on both sides of the court.
There's definitely a positive vibe around the feeling with the group and them getting a better understanding of how to play together. It showed in that game and now we need to do it again."
