Another day, another double-digit win for the Breakers - this title defence is starting to seem rather easy.
The reigning Australian NBL champions proved far too explosive for the Sydney Kings at Vector Arena tonight, winning 93-64 to claim their fourth straight, ninth of 11 and league-leading 14th victory of the season.
Incredibly, the 29-point win was the Breakers' seventh in a row by 10 points or more at home, as the North Shore club seems almost unstoppable heading into the post-season.
Thankfully for those who like their wins to be close contests rather than comprehensive canters, the only team able to match the Breakers in the win column this season, the Perth Wildcats, come into town next week in a true test of the Breakers' title credentials.
And, thankfully for those who like a little variation in their romps, at least this one provided one noteworthy feat - it was played in front of 8000 fans at the downtown venue, a record for both a basketball game in this country and in the NBL this season.
Those fans received their money's worth tonight, if not in terms of parity then certainly in terms of entertainment value. The home side repeatedly turned on the type of play at the offensive end of the floor which has seen them unable to find a venue big enough to house their admirers in recent weeks.
In truth, a Sydney side in seventh place and boasting the second-worst defence in the league were probably never going to be able to run with the Breakers, the league's second-highest scorers, for long. And so it proved as, aside from one minor second-quarter blip which saw the Kings hold a five-point lead, the Breakers barely broke a sweat.
Gary Wilkinson led the home side's scoring with 18, as their share-the-load mentality saw three players in double figures and two more with nine.
It didn't look so easy early on, as the Breakers shot a woeful 25 per cent from the floor in the first quarter, but rode three threes to an 18-14 lead at the first intermission.
The Kings took their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter on the back of an 8-0 run, and they could have made the Breakers sweat if they managed to sink a single one of their seven three-point attempts.
But the Breakers soon hit back with their own 7-0 run, and when a fast break from Cedric Jackson in the waning seconds of the half presented Alex Pledger with an opportunity to dunk, the seven-footer didn't disappoint to push the Breakers' lead out to 11 at the break.
An all-round flourish from MVP candidate Jackson midway through the third quarter saw that lead near 20, the largest of the night, as the home side's free-flowing offence was beginning to prove too much for the Kings.
That fact only became more evident in the remainder of the game, as the Breakers rode a succession of swooshes, alley-oops and dunks to a 93-64 win at the final buzzer.
Breakers 93 (Wilkinson 18, Abercrombie 16, Jackson 10), Sydney 64 (Khazzouh 20, Bose 13, Grant 8). HT: 45-34.
- Kris Shannon of APNZ
