A combination of factors have seen a team once regarded as the premier closers in the competition resemble a nervous outfit with no nous in the clutch.
Last year in the regular season, excluding meetings with the Wildcats, the Breakers were a sure thing.
No matter the scenario, a punter could put the house on the champs finding a way to win.
The Breakers played 11 games in which the final margin was 10 or fewer, and they won them all. That kind of record is untenable and, with eight defeats in 11 such games already this season, perhaps their luck is averaging out.
Another issue is a pair of rookies in two of the most important positions down the stretch - running the point and drawing up plays on the sidelines.
Kerron Johnson blew out the candles on his 23rd birthday cake on Saturday, a reminder of the callow player the Breakers have in such a crucial position. The guard has shown he has the ability - averaging 13.2 points and 4.1 assists per game - but in his first year of professional basketball he is still learning how to convert close games into victories.
Coach Dean Vickerman probably wishes he had a player like Cedric Jackson to call on when things get tight, someone who regularly took over games and willed his side to wins.
The first-year coach has found little success when calling plays in the final minutes and, while execution plays a large part, that was exemplified when his charges failed to get away a decent shot in last weekend's two-point loss to the Tigers.
Finding a time machine for CJ Bruton would go some way to curing what ails the Breakers down the stretch, with the veteran no longer to be relied on late in games. On that point, as evidenced by his seven minutes playing Perth, Vickerman may be learning.
His players may also be learning how to implement a lockdown defence in the days of the dreaded rule adjustments, if the second half against the Wildcats was anything to go by.
Heading into the game, the Breakers' defence was second-worst in the league, being burned to an average of 87 points a game. The 71 they conceded against Perth were the fewest the Breakers have given up all season, built on a seven-minute scoreless stretch for the visitors in the third quarter.
If the Breakers have finally found a system to disrupt teams defensively without the kind of physicality now illegal, it will go a long way to sparking a second-half revival.
Because the other pieces are there. Mika Vukona is in the form of his career. Tom Abercrombie and Gary Wilkinson - before being hampered on Friday night - have shown glimpses they can again be the spree scorers they once were.
And the Breakers don't have to run the table from here on out.
Only two teams (Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers) have winning records and third place is eminently attainable, given 6-6 Melbourne occupy that spot.
Where they lie, mired in the middle of a shocking loss of form, third place would represent a resoundingly successful season.
