Breakers reignite #NBL21 flame beating Perth again

New Zealand fans, get your calculators out. Because the Breakers season is far from over after recording their second win over Perth in as many weeks in their 86-84 victory at the Silverdome in Launceston. 

It was neck-and-neck basketball played at a breakneck speed and neither side was willing to give an inch in a match that came right down to the wire to give the Tasmanian basketball public a taste of what's to come with the JackJumpers next season.

The Breakers welcomed back Tai Webster (12 points, three rebounds, four assists), but also said goodbye to Jarrod Weeks who was squeezed out by the younger Webster brother's return and will enjoy finally heading home.

Tai and older brother were instrumental down the stretch, with Corey blocking Bryce Cotton and Tai laying the ball up to lock up the scores in the final seconds. 

Levi Randolph had an enormous match with 19 points - including the match-winner. Perth had a catch and shoot opportunity to steal the result, but Cotton's three-pointer rimmed out.

The rebuilt Breakers are full of form and will be heading home to finish out the season, this win meaning they remain a mathematic chance of storming into the finals.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir said his side was not giving up belief that they could make a late-season charge at the finals.

"I hope so, I definitely think like that," he said.

"Things happen, and as long as there is chance, a mathematical chance, we are two games behind, but I think we should think like that.

"I definitely like to think our season is not done, all the time."

Shamir said ultimately it would come down to professionalism and preparing for each game as if it was do or die.

"We really have to fight," he said.

Shamir also praised Tai Webster, who came into the match off a single practice and no matches with new teammates Randolph and William McDowell-White.

"You don't know what to expect when he sits out like that," he said.

"It tells you all about him and his greatness, in all honesty."

It was hard to fault Perth who were led by John Mooney with 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Todd Blanchfield who had 21 points, four rebounds and four assists. 

Cotton was influential with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists but at times for the wrong reasons as he was unable to come up with his usual clutch plays down the stretch. 

Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson was not kicking stones after his side left it all on the floor and lost a closely contested match.

"We had our chances ... we played hard," he said.

"When you shoot 10 per cent from the three-point line, you are not going to win many games, but certainly we were in it."

Gleeson described the Breakers as "super talented" after the New Zealand squad notched up their second win against his Wildcats.

"They have the two Webster boys, Randolph, Iverson all playing their roles," he said.

"Tai was back in today hitting three-pointers like he hadn't left.

The rumour mill has been going into overdrive with former Brisbane Bullet Will Magnay back in the country and linked to the Wildcats, but Gleeson was not willing to comment on that link.

"I don't report or answer to rumours, I work on facts," he said.

Perth got to work on the defensive end early and suffocated the Breakers en route to a 7-1 lead. Another milestone for the season was notched when Abercrombie splashed his 500th NBL three-pointer and it was followed by a Randolph throwdown that brought New Zealand roaring back.

Finn Delany wanted to join the splash party and hit a triple of his own to level the scores as the Breakers began to find their groove. When New Zealand gets flowing they are hard to stop and in the blink of an eye they went from trailing by six to leading by six.

The Breakers appeared in full control and their offensive was flowing, but Perth was also showing no signs of surrender. 

New Zealand could not push their lead out to beyond six as the Wildcats remained in touch. Todd Blanchfield had the hot hand and had 12 points by midway through the second quarter, bringing his side back to within a single point.

Perth was working overtime on their rebounds and had double the boards of the Breakers to ensure they stayed right in the contest. Blanchfield engineered a three-point play in the final seconds of the half which meant it was Perth that went into the major break with a slender 47-46 lead. 

The two sides remained locked together throughout the third quarter as Cotton kept engineering shots but the Breakers kept replaying at the other end. Perth extended their margin to three points but it was still anyone's contest heading into the final term.

With five minutes to play the Breakers were trailing by three and noticeably lifted the intensity. Abercrombie hit yet another triple before back-to-back baskets had New Zealand back in front. 

Perth was up for the challenge though, Mitch Norton hitting their first three-pointer for the match while Cotton was seemingly everywhere.

Corey Webster came with a huge defensive play to block Cotton with just 70 seconds left on the clock, a decisive play which saw the Breakers come into the final minute with the ball in their hands. 

A Webster pass to an open Randolph was mis-timed and speared out of court to give Perth the ball and control of the match but Mooney and Norton both missed at the time. 

Tai Webster then made his return memorable with a go-ahead layup but Perth levelled it all up through a Mooney jam with just four seconds remaining. 

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 16

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 86 (Randolph 19, Abercrombie 14, T Webster 12)

PERTH WILDCATS 84 (Mooney 25, Blanchfield 21, Cotton 19) 

BOX SCORE