AN embarrassed Taipans will sift through the ashes this morning after a record-breaking night for all the wrong reasons on the Gold Coast.

Cairns turned in their lowest score in the club’s history and surrendered fourth spot to the Blaze in a performance that sullied their reputation as the NBL’s most dogged side. For a while in the third quarter, the league’s lowest-ever score of 40, set by Devonport in 1983, looked in danger of being trumped.

But in the end the Taipans’ 76-49 defeat was cringe-worthy enough and easily less than the next-lowest 56 they managed against Townsville last season.

A listless Snakes looked like they were still sunbaking at Main Beach as Gold Coast executed a game plan designed to starve point guard Jamar Wilson of the ball.

That resulted in 21 Taipans turn-overs in 40 minutes, with just two trips to the charity stripe. They were out-rebounded 27-42 – 17 of which were offensive boards.

Put simply, the Taipans were pushed into the corner, where they made no attempt to evade the Blaze’s swinging fists.

The nature of the loss came from nowhere, considering how well the team has played this season.

"That was not a true reflection of where we want to be as a club," coach Aaron Fearne said. "We should be pretty embarrassed by that."

There was no analysis or discussion after the game – they will leave the post-mortem until this morning.

"People can say things and get emotional that don’t really help after the game," Fearne said. "It’d be close to the lowest-ever total in the NBL … how we respond from this is very important."

The Gold Coast are now narrowly ahead of Cairns in fourth spot and if victorious over the Taipans in Cairns
on March 3, they will win their mini-series on points differential.

With both teams in a tight battle for a finals spot, that mini-series result could be crucial. Already behind the eight-ball at quarter time, the Taipans failed to register a point for the first five minutes of the second stanza.

The Blaze plucked offensive rebounds at will to go on a 12-point run and blow away 31-14 leaders before the main break. It was a remarkable scoreline given in their other two contests this season, the Taipans have registered their highest two totals.

In-form Blaze guard Adam Gibson said the team’s increased focus on defence could answer for that swing.

"It was almost like boot camp at training for a while there," he said. "We’re focusing on defence now and our plan was to keep the ball out of Wilson’s hands. We did that and they couldn’t score."