Tai Wesley has illustrated why the New Zealand Breakers are increasingly fancied to regain the NBL title with a second consecutive big performance off the bench.
The Guam international forward demonstrated the Breakers' talent depth as he came on to lead them with 18 points in an 81-74 away win over the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday.
With star import Cedric Jackson as effective with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Mika Vukona grabbing nine rebounds, the ladder-leading Breakers (14-5) took their record on the road to 6-4.
Wesley was named NBL Player of the Week after coming off the bench to drop 23 points in a win over the Sydney Kings last week.
The Breakers head the standings from Perth Wildcats (12-5) who have two games in hand with the Cairns Taipans (13-6) a close third.
However the most significant ladder movement in round 13 came from fourth-placed Melbourne United (10-8) who opened a gap between the playoff spots and the nearest challengers, the Sydney Kings (7-10) and Adelaide 36ers (7-11).
Sydney star Josh Childress returned from a three-game layoff for a hamstring injury but was not at his best despite notching 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as United beat the Kings 82-68 on Friday night.
The Taipans had to overcome an enormous performance from Brian Conklin to defeat bitter Queensland rivals Townsville Crocodiles 79-75 in their clash on Saturday night.
Conklin poured in 33 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in 31 minutes on court.
However it was the clutch shooting of Taipans forwards Alex Loughton (22 points) and Cam Tragardh (18 points) which was decisive as they combined for 19 of the Taipans' 26 points in the final quarter.
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