BOX SCOREThey did it the hard way, but the New Zealand Breakers finally dispatched Perth Wildcats 99-83 at the North Shore Events Centre on Wednesday to progress to next week's iiNet NBL Championship finals.
After losing at home last week and staging a miraculous comeback on the road over the weekend, the regular-season champions finally vindicated their playoff favouritism to book a showdown with the winners of the Cairns v Townsville Semi Final Series.
"For us, it was all about giving it the effort and energy required to play a finals game," reflected Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis.
"After last Thursday, we were pretty disappointed in that department, but going to Perth, we found that part of our game again, regardless of results."
After falling behind early, the Breakers rode a 10-point run to ease ahead during the second quarter and never trailled again.
The advantage never fell below six points during the second half and Perth centre Andre Brown was eventually ejected for throwing a punch during the final quarter, an act that probably ended his team’s hopes of victory once and for all.
American Gary Wilkinson led all scorers with 20 points for the Breakers, ably assisted by Kirk Penney (18) and CJ Bruton (17). Forward Matt Knight was the best of Wildcats with 17 points.
Forward Jesse Wagstaff, injected into the starting lineup for Brown, put the visitors up initially and the margin grew to seven points as their hosts stumbled out of the blocks.
But some full-court pressure settled the Breakers' nerves and when American Gary Wilkinson converted a sneaky three-point play on the buzzer, the Cats led just 25-23 after a quarter.
CJ Bruton erased that gap immediately and Wilkinson put New Zealand up from the free-throw line.
There were signs that the Breakers were starting to toy with their opponents as Kirk Penney drove and dished to Bruton in the corner for a pretty trey.
Tom Abercrombie swatted a shot from among the NSEC rafters and then batted an offensive rebound to Penney to strike from the corner.
When Kevin Braswell connected from somewhere near the carpark, the margin was double figures and the home side went into halftime 52-43 up.
They were shooting accurately – 55 percent from the field, 50 percent from afar and 82 perfect from the line – and executing superbly for 15 assists.
Wilkinson, who had played limited minutes all series with a bronchial infection, led all scorers with 14 points, while Cam Tovey paced the Wildcats with nine.
"Thankfully, Gary has been feeling better," said Lemanis. "He plays with energy and passion, but most of all, he wants the team to do well."
"That's hard enough to find in anyone, but it's particularly hard to find in an American."
But there were hints that Perth could still find a way back into the hunt. They had snared nine offensive boards, were outscoring their rivals 24-16 in the paint and had forced 11 turnovers.
And for a while, it seemed Matt Knight might be the man to lead that revival, rattling in 10 points during the third period. He dragged to within six points later in the spell, but a three from Wilkinson steadied the ship and the margin was still 72-61 entering the home stretch.
Guard Damian Martin hit a trey to spark some hope for the guests, but soon after Brown further reduced the deficit, he was thrown out for jabbing at Mika Vukona during one of several tense moments.
When Wilkinson hit three of the resulting four freebies, New Zealand had bought some breathing space and only needed to hold on.
"They knew they were behind the eight ball and had to do something to get back in the game," said Breakers captain Paul Henare.
"It's unfortunate they had to resort to that stuff and they'd probably say they were just playing physical."
"In the same situation, we'd probably do the same. They were fighting and scrapping to the end, and you almost have to respect them for that."
Penney dropped a long trey to extend the margin to 14, Abercrombie added to that from mid range and a three-point play from Bruton put the result beyond doubt.
The veteran Aussie – son of an NBL legend – had been almost missing in action as the regular season wound down, but found his best form when it was most needed.
"CJ understands his own body and, mentally and physically, where he needs to be when it counts," said Lemanis. "We trust him to do that and he loves the big stage."
It wasn't a perfect performance by any means. The Wildcats still snatched 18 offensive boards and scored better around the basket.
But perhaps the biggest stat of the night was the 3/7 shooting performance and 11 points. Remember, six days earlier he had blazed for 29 points, including five three-pointers, on the same court.
The Cats had certainly done the Breakers a favour by awaking the sleeping giants from their late-season slumber.
"They were a tough, tough team and the defending champions," insisted Lemanis.
"They taught us lessons about how to approach Game One of a playoffs series and that’s a great learning experience for us as a group."
"We know it's going to be a war and we have to bring the appropriate effort. Home court doesn’t mean anything; you still have to come to play."
New Zealand now have a week to recover and prepare for Game One of the best-of-three finals series next Wednesday.
New Zealand Breakers 99 (Gary Wilkinson 20, Kirk Penney 18, CJ Bruton 17, Tom Abercrombie 10)
Perth Wildcats 83 (Matt Knight 17, Jesse Wagstaff 12, Cam Tovey 11, Stephen Weigh 11)
@ North Shore Events Centre
