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The NZ Breakers maintained their formidable home record with an 80-63 victory at a sold-out North Shore Events Centre on Friday.

The reigning iiNet NBL champions led for all but the opening 2min 30sec to extend their winning streak over the Sixers to 10 games and improve their home stand to 7-1 for the season.

Forward Tom Abercrombie paced all scorers with 22 points, ably supported by American Gary Wilkinson with 17. Point guard Chris Warren was Adelaide’s only answer with 14 points.

Warren got the visitors off to an early start, draining a three-pointer to open the scoring. But rival Cedric Jackson immediately responded with a three-point play and soon after Daryl Corletto struck from the arc to give the Breakers some breathing room.

By quarter-time the margin was already into double figures (26-16) and the home side was enjoying plenty of success denying the baseline inbounds pass, forcing the Sixers into seven turnovers.

For someone with ailing knees, the hustle play of 36-year old CJ Bruton was also proving inspirational, stepping up to take charging fouls and diving on the loose ball.

The Breakers were also dominating the boards and at halftime (43-30), were out-rebounding their opponents 11-9 on the offensive end. They held a 28-12 scoring advantage in the paint and Abercrombie already had 13 points.

Adelaide began to nibble away at the lead as the third period commenced, but a Wilkinson-fuelled 11-0 run extended the margin out to 20 points.

Though the 36ers got it back to 13 down the stretch with former Breaker Everard Bartlett reeling off seven straight points, the task was too great for the visitors.

New Zealand Breakers 80 (Abercrombie 22, Wilkinson 17, Jackson 12, Bruton 10)
Adelaide 36ers 63 (Warren 14, Weigh 10)

Crowd: 4400 (sell-out) at North Shore Events Centre, Auckland