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

21 Jan 2026

south east melbourne phoenix

new zealand breakers

ignite

South East Melbourne hosts New Zealand in an Ignite Cup clash with huge Finals ramifications.

South East Melbourne Phoenix (2nd) v New Zealand Breakers (7th)
Wednesday, January 21, 7.30pm AEDT
State Basketball Centre

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Talking points

All to play for
This Ignite Cup matchup will have big ramifications on what the Final will look like and who will have the chance to play off for the prize money.

The New Zealand Breakers currently sit top of the Ignite Cup standings with a flawless record and any points they can win in this game will help cement their spot.

The Phoenix however, have only played two Ignite Cup games so far and while they sit down towards the bottom, they have enough potential points left to grab to book their place on the Gold Coast.

Pick your poison
Without Nathan Sobey, the Phoenix not only managed to beat the Adelaide 36ers, they dismantled the ladder-leaders.

New recruit Ian Clark had a career night with 27 points and this team is beginning to show how tough they will be to beat multiple times in a season.

While Sobey is their MVP, the depth has been on full display and they’ve shown they have numerous weapons ready to step up on any given night.

It makes them a tough proposition when it could be Clark one night, Angus Glover the next or Wes Iwundu continuing his hot form.

What they're saying

Phoenix import Ian Clark on his team's mentality:
"We pull for each other and nobody cares who gets the credit, but it's a collective unit and we had plenty of guys step up today to play really well.

"We're also a deep team, so we have a lot of guys that buy in and who know how to play on the defensive end, and then on the offensive end we run and gun, have a lot of shooters who want to get up shots and having fun is what we're doing."

Breakers big man Sam Mennenga on his team's continued improvement:
"It [Saturday] was a good win and importantly the whole team was enjoying themselves. The vibe and energy was good, so hopefully we can piece that together more now [moving forward].

"[The win] shows that we're maturing as a group and are showing flashes of how good we can be.

"We've now set ourselves [the standard of] where we need to be, because we have to win every game [from here to make the Playoffs].

"To do that, we have to continue to put in the work every day."