Mooney, King shine in NBA clash

Matt Mooney and Mojave King combined for seven first half three-pointers in a hot start for the New Zealand Breakers to wrap up their NBLxNBA tour before Ousmane Dieng, Alex Ducas and the Oklahoma City Thunder prevailed 117-89.

The Breakers were playing their third match this week on their trip to the United States after making an impressive start to NBL25 with wins against the Brisbane Bullets and South East Melbourne Phoenix.

They arrived at BOK Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, without the services of Next Star Karim Lopez, former NBA big men Jonah Bolden and Tacko Fall along with experienced NBL centre Dane Pineau.

The Thunder were also without a host of key players including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, but they did have former Breakers Next Star Dieng and West Australian product and Saint Mary's alum Ducas for the match up.

The Breakers then shot the lights out led by Mooney and King in the first half to put up 36 points in the first quarter and 60 for the opening half, but the Thunder worked on top from there for the eventual 28-point victory.

Mooney ended up top-scoring for New Zealand with 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 5/9 three-point shooting with King contributing 16 points and five boards while shooting 5/9 from downtown.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright wrapped up his impressive week against NBA opponents with another 16 points and eight assists with Sam Mennenga adding nine points and three rebounds, and Grant Anticevich eight points and four boards.

Freddie Gillespie also had six points, eight rebounds and two blocks for the Breakers with Sean Bairstow adding four points, four boards and three assists.

Former Breakers Next Star Ousmane Dieng finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Oklahoma City with Alex Ducas also standing out with 15 points and four boards.

Adam Flagler top-scored for the Thunder with 25 points while Dillon Jones added 23 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks.

Not deterred by the 55-point loss three nights earlier against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Breakers came out hot on Tulsa on Thursday night and were on fire with their shooting touch in the first quarter.

New Zealand piled on 36 points in the opening period with Matt Mooney on fire with four three-point bombs inside the game's opening five minutes.

That helped the Breakers to a 36-34 lead by the end of the first quarter and still by half-time the scores were tied at 60-60 with Mooney and Mojave King combining for 25 points and shooting 7-8 from three-point territory between them.

The Breakers did find the going a little tougher offensively in the second half managing just the 16 points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth with the Thunder ending up winning by 38 points in the finish.

The Breakers now rejoin the NBL season next Thursday night on the road to the Brisbane Bullets before hosting the Perth Wildcats on Saturday in their return home.

NBLxNBA TOUR 2024

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Mooney 19, Jackson-Cartwright 16, King 16)

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 117 (Flagler 25, Jones 23, Dieng 20)

BOX SCORE