"We needed a little bit more production from our starters tonight," said assistant coach Dean Vickerman. He was being kind.
Jackson and Abercrombie led the way but still shared just 16 points, while Mika Vukona (six points), Alex Pledger (four) and Daryl Corletto (one) all had sub-par games. Collectively, the starting five shot 9-41 from the field (22 per cent) and managed only one three-pointer.
Their lack of production was the biggest reason why Sydney streaked away at the beginning of both halves, opening the game with a 15-2 run and backing that up with a 12-3 run to start the third quarter.
"The first five minutes of every quarter, I don't think we had a five minutes there where we scored over four or five points," Vickerman said. "We really struggled to get an offensive rhythm at the start of quarters."
Bruton did his best to bring the Breakers back into the contest but, at 36, he shouldn't have to shoulder the offensive responsibilities. The Australian scored a season-high 18 points (5-9 from the floor) while Webster, another of the bench brigade, chimed in with 11 (5-8).
"Those bench guys are playing well, they're playing well at practice and they're being really aggressive," Vickerman said. "CJ had one of his better games of the season and I thought Corey, at the end of the first quarter, had a good impact in the game."
The same cannot be said for the man Webster is backing up. After a week in which he recorded the Breakers' first triple-double, was named ANBL player of the week and selected to start the All-Star game, Jackson was largely ineffectual while being outshone by his opposite number.
Diminutive Sydney point guard Corin Henry poured in 29 points to leave the league's top-scorer, teammate Ben Madgen, relegated to second-fiddle.
Vickerman said the Breakers were unprepared for such an outburst from Henry, and credited Sydney's zone defence for shutting down their own American ball-handler.
"They played zone for a high percentage of the game and closed down some of our driving lanes. They did a good job of keeping Cedric out of there and [keep him from] having a major impact of the game.
"That's one of the areas, coaching-wise, where we've got to come up with a little bit of a better solution for teams that pack it in like that."
With a three-game roadtrip over the New Year period following Thursday night's clash with Cairns, Vickerman couldn't shake the feeling his side had let an important game get away. He said it was vital the Breakers get back to winning ways at Vector Arena, where they may be without Will Hudson after he suffered a concussion against Sydney.
