BOXSCORE

The New Zealand Breakers fended off the visiting Perth Wildcats 83-77 at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday, in a battle befitting the two best teams in the iiNet NBL Championship.

In front of their fifth-straight sell-out crowd, the Breakers secured their fifth-straight victory by scoring 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to take control of the contest.

American Kevin Lisch led all scorers with 20 points for Perth, but compatriot Gary Wilkinson had 18 and Cedric Jackson a 15-point, 10-assist double for the Breakers.

Tom Abercrombie, Jackson and Alex Pledger ignited a 15-2 run that swept New Zealand into a double-figure lead midway through the opening period, taking a 31-24 quarter-time lead on 75 per cent shooting from the field and eight assists.

Perth roared past the Breakers early in the second thanks to six straight points from giant Luke Nevill, and only a pair of threes from CJ Bruton (14 points, 4/5 three-pointers) kept the home team within two points at half-time.

Lisch scored 14 points for the half and his team doubled the Breakers' rebound count and outscored them 8-0 in second-chance points.

The Breakers lifted after the break, luring their opponents into early foul trouble and overwhelming them on the scoreboard. By the time Perth ended their 7min 39sec drought they were in a double-figure hole and 66-54 in arrears entering the home stretch.

The Wildcats raise their intensity for one last rally, but a Bruton trey with just under five minutes remaining provided the final nail in their coffin.

“I think it was a tremendous battle,” Perth coach Rob Beveridge said. “They broke away a bit in the third quarter, but the way we fought back was what good teams do.

“It could have blown out to 20 points easily, but the way our guys kept getting after it was pretty special tonight. We didn’t knock down open shots – that was probably the biggest difference.”

New Zealand converted 47 per cent from the field and 10-of-22 from the arc.

While Perth triumphed in the possession stakes, Mika Vukona’s strong 11-point, 10-rebound performance closed the gap in the second half.

“I challenged our guys at halftime to keep them to one shot,” said Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis.

“That was a big part of us being able to establish a big lead in the third quarter. When you throw down a challenge like that, Mika is one who’s likely to respond and that’s inspiring to the rest of the group.”

New Zealand Breakers 83 (Wilkinson 18, Jackson 15, Bruton 14, Abercrombie 12, Vukona 11)
Perth Wildcats 77 (Lisch 20, Redhage 15, Nevill 14)

Crowd: 4000 (sell-out) at North Shore Events Centre, Auckland