How to watch & talking points: New Zealand v SE Melbourne

05 Feb 2026

new zealand breakers

south east melbourne phoenix

The desperate New Zealand Breakers host the in-form South East Melbourne Phoenix in an exciting Round 20 fixture.

New Zealand Breakers (7th) v South East Melbourne Phoenix (2nd)
Thursday, February 5, 5.30pm AEDT
Spark Arena

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Talking points

Eyes on the prize
This game is important for both teams and for similar but different reasons.

The Breakers need to win to give themselves any chance of climbing into sixth spot, while the Phoenix need to get the job done if they want to get into the top two.

On recent form it's easy to say the Phoenix will fancy their chances, but this season has proved that teams seem to struggle going over to New Zealand and playing a hungry Breakers outfit.

Glover's award push
Coming off two quiet games by his standards, look for Glover to bounce back and provide a spark off the bench on Thursday night.

The two-time NBL champion is averaging career-best numbers in points (11) and free-throw percentage (83.3) and is a big reason why the Phoenix is having their best ever NBL campaign.

Expect Glover, who is one of the main contenders for Sixth Man of the Year, to return to form on Thursday.

What they're saying

Breakers coach Petteri Koponen on his team’s willingness to fight:
“This is a disappointing result [against Tasmania], but as long as there is still hope this season, we will keep fighting, and we've also got the Ignite Cup final to look forward to.

“We will keep fighting, and as long as there's still a chance for us, we'll believe, and we'll just focus on trying to win our next game.”

Phoenix coach Josh King on his team's focus:
“We didn't play close to our best in Perth, but it was a good response [against Adelaide], although it wasn’t perfect.

“It was a really good defensive performance, as we didn't shoot the ball well.

“[Looking ahead] of course we'd like to finish top two but that's not something you can focus on, you just have to worry about winning games and New Zealand is our next focus.”