Another masterclass from Cedric Jackson delivered the New Zealand Breakers an emphatic 97-76 win over the Cairns Taipans at Auckland's Vector Arena on Thursday.

Jackson almost single-handedly took the game away from the visitors in a remarkable 16-point second quarter, finishing with an NBL career-high of 32 points.

With media reports linking him to the LA Lakers this week, Jackson showed he is ready for the big time, adding eight assists, five rebounds and three steals less than two weeks after his memorable triple-double.

Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis admitted he hadn't realised what a big night his star player was having until late in the game.

“That's the quietest 32 I've seen for a long time, when it was announced I was genuinely shocked,” he told reporters after the game.

“It didn't feel like he scored that much, but 13 shots for 32 points is amazing.”

Lemanis' counter-part Aaron Fearne was furious with the way his side's poor defensive transition allowed Jackson to control the game.

“Transition D is a numbers game,” he said.

“Jamar (Wilson) is no different, Adris Deleon's no different , Jonny Flynn's no different, if they get going and get open space in front of the basket they'll kick your butt and that's what he did.”

It was also a big night for less talked about teammate Dillon Boucher who had 10 points in his 200th game for the club, his highest tally in almost three years.

“Anytime you can have a performance like that it makes you feel young, after the Sydney game I felt about 40, tonight I feel about 18,” Boucher said.

The result gets the Breakers back on track after an unusually flat loss to Sydney last week, while Cairns saw their season record slip below 40 per cent.

The Taipans got reasonable production out of their import duo - point guard Jamar Wilson scored a team-high 18 points and forward Shane Edwards produced 15 points and five boards - but the team struggled from behind the arc making just three-of-20.

The sides were evenly matched early with both teams shooting 50 per cent from the floor in the opening stanza and it seemed appropriate they ended the quarter tied 18-18.

However after a quiet start Jackson's trademark aggression took over as he scored 11 points in a row for the defending champions, and big man Alex Pledger (13 points, 3 blocks) started to impose himself on the game.

The Taipans struggled to get their offense going in the halfcourt as the Breakers rotated well to constantly put them under pressure and take a 51-37 lead into the main break.

Things didn't improve for the visitors as it took them nearly five minutes to get their first bucket while New Zealand continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

From there the result was inevitable and both coaches took the opportunity to give some of their bench players extended minutes in the final quarter.

New Zealand Breakers 97 (Jackson 31, Pledger 13, Boucher 10)
Cairns Taipans 76 (Wilson 18, Rychart 15, Edwards 15)

Crowd: 6677 at Vector Arena, Auckland