Outmuscled 101-78 in the first game of the three-game semifinal series, the Breakers stood up to the defending champions to win by four points in Perth last Sunday, and they got the better of the Wildcats after an at-times fiery decider in Auckland last night.
They will now play either the Townsville Crocodiles or the Cairns Taipans in a best-of-three series as they try to become the first New Zealand team to win a major Australian professional sports competition.
Their aggression was typified by the fact they produced their best basketball after a final-quarter scuffle in which the Wildcats had big man Andre Brown ejected, outscoring the Wildcats 28-15 after the incident.
"Perth play to a certain level, they're a good basketball team and I have a lot of respect for them, and if you don't match their energy levels they just kill you," Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said.
"It's the offensive boards, the turnovers, the diving on the ball, all the little stuff. They win all those plays if you're not prepared to stand up to them and in game one we didn't do what was required in those areas to win the game.
"Certainly in games two and three we gave it the effort that was required.
"In the end, whether we won or not, at least the effort was there."
Lemanis said he didn't see the incident, which began when first-game Wildcats star Kevin Lisch pulled Gary Wilkinson to the floor.
A scuffle broke out, in which Brown appeared to strike Breakers defensive star Mika Vukona.
Brown was ejected, Wilkinson landed four of five free throws he was given, and the Breakers never let the Wildcats back in.
Lemanis said he didn't see the whole incident, but was pleased how his team responded.
"It was an intense situation and I'm quite proud we stood up for ourselves and didn't back down, because it can also affect the outcome of the game."
Lemanis said the team had great character and he was pleased they showed it in the way they responded to their loss in the first game.
"All year, when we've found ourselves backed into a bit of a corner we've responded well," he said.
"The group has proud individuals who want to come out and display who they truly are, and this group also has an unbelievable chemistry and no matter what the situation is we always believe we can come out and play well, and we're going to do it for each other and with each other."
The Wildcats took an early six-point lead but the Breakers whittled it back to two at quarter time, and took the lead in the second quarter after scoring the first eight points of the quarter.
They led by nine at halftime and at three-quarter time, Wilkinson and CJ Bruton stepping up their scoring as the Wildcats double-teamed Kirk Penney.
Wilkinson led the scoring with 20 points, with Kirk Penney scoring 18 and CJ Bruton 17. Matthew Knight led the Wildcats with 17.
Wilkinson also topped the rebounding for the Breakers with seven along with Vukona.
"We started off a little bit slow but stepped up and played hard, and we had guys off the bench contributing really well," Wilkinson said.
"I just wanted to come out and try to make an impact, try to do whatever I could to help the team be successful."
The Breakers will play either the Townsville Crocodiles or the Cairns Taipans in the best of three game final, the first of which is at North Shore Events Centre next Wednesday.
