Looking like a different team the Slingers put on a display unseen to the Singapore Indoor Stadium crowd this season. A sense of cohesion seemed to surround the Slingers as they marched off to a seventeen point lead at the first break. Another milestone was reached as the Slingers and Breakers hosted the first non-Australian clash of the NBL’s history and both teams were up for the challenge. Top scorers for the Breakers was Carlos Powell as he posted 43 for the match and a game high scoring record. Fortunately the Breakers could not stop the onslaught of well executed offence as the Slingers showed that they would not be intimidated and took command for the get go.
Marquin Chandler and his recently found form was unstoppable. The Slingers swingman backed up his player of the week honours and showed the Singapore crowd what they missed out on just three days prior.
After beating Wollongong on the road the Slingers put themselves in a must win situation against the Breakers. New Zealand are a strong team in their home arena as they sit in playoff postion but are comparable to Singapore on the road as they have struggled to find their footing posting 1 win and 6 losses.
Likewise for Singapore this game was about pushing for that playoff birth. A win was not good enough. For the basketball fans it was about how the Slingers were going to win.
Showing their potential, the Slingers gave the home town fans a glimpse of what could be a season turn-around. Both Mike Helms and Marquin were instumental in this team win. With the imports playing well, enables the defence to be drawn out creating easy opportunities for the big guys. This also allows good open looks for the long range specialists which have up until now been under-performing.
All of a sudden the League’s smallest team is now showing that they can work together and the results follow. The focus now centres on Adelaide who after struggling the past few games have now strung two wins together including a win on the road against 3rd placed Sydney Kings. Losing the inaugural opener to the Slingers, the 36ers will look to even up the club series and deny Singapore a third straight win.
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