Cedric Jackson arrives at Auckland Airport to depart for Perth. Photo / Nick Reed
Cedric Jackson arrives at Auckland Airport to depart for Perth. Photo / Nick Reed
The Breakers are at Auckland Airport waiting to board a plane to Perth for the decider in what's been a nail-biting final series against the Wildcats.
Last night the team celebrated a pulsating win over the Perth Team at the North Shore Events Centre, 72-68.
Tomorrow it's hoped the team will pull off another win to claim their fifth NBL title.
It has been a gruelling few days of Trans-Tasman travel for the Breakers, who lost the first game of the best-of-three final in Perth on Wednesday night.
In last night's game Corey Webster, whose long-range shooting helped lift the Breakers to the playoffs, eventually saw off a tenacious opponent with a huge three as the clock counted into the final 20 seconds.
Despite leading the defending champions in scoring this season, Webster was perhaps an unlikely hero after making only one of his first 11 shots of the evening. But, the ball well outside the three-point arc, the shooting guard connected to essentially clinch the contest.
"I didn't even think about it," coach Dean Vickerman replied when asked whether he wanted Webster shooting in that spot. "I was just like, 'I hope that goes'.
"That's him - he can miss 10 shots and still maintain his confidence...he always thinks the next one's going in."
Tom Abercrombie arrives at Auckland Airport to depart for Perth. Photo / Nick Reed
Webster's dramatic intervention - which followed a similarly pivotal triple from Tom Abercrombie - helped the Breakers move within one win of providing Vickerman with a perfect farewell.
In what will be the coach's final outing with the club, the Kiwi club will on Sunday aim to upset Perth in the post-season for a fourth time. Considering that run began with a three-game showdown against the Wildcats in the 2011 semifinals, it's only appropriate for Vickerman's tenure to conclude in similar circumstances.
And the manner in which they sent the series to a decider was equally fitting. The Breakers built their reign on the back of two core principles - defence and rebounding - and it was success in those facets that allowed the champs to triumph tonight.
Facing a 1-0 deficit following Wednesday's opener in Perth, the Breakers' suffocating defence hardly made for the most flowing of spectacles, but that was just the way they liked it.
Limiting Perth to 31 points in the first half saw the home side hold a six-point lead at the major break, an advantage boosted to double digits in the third. But Perth's lack of offensive fluency soon spread and, with two minutes to play, the teams were locked level.
An unseemly grind of a game suddenly gave way to a shootout as Jermaine Beal - who led all scorers with 20 - and the Breakers' key men battled to decide a defensively-focused tussle.
Abercrombie's triple with 1.09 on the clock came courtesy of a canny pass from Cedric Jackson, as the point guard completed a strong all-round game with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
And then the stage was set for Webster. The Breakers' season has revolved around their shooting guard - a slow start while he was trialling in the NBA, a resurgence as he returned with a point to prove, a wane as a playoff place threatened to slip away.
So hanging onto a one-point lead and the season on the line, it was almost predictable Webster took the chance to atone for an ugly night.
"That's what shooters do," said skipper Mika Vukona. "You work with the percentages sometimes and it's going to go in sooner or later. It worked out well for us tonight."
