KEY POINTS:
Apparently the prospect of playoff basketball has been playing havoc with planning for the Breakers' end-of-season bash.
Their performance in the first quarter of last night's crucial clash with Perth Wildcats suggested their backroom staff need not have worried. They could simply stick to their regular booking for the night after the regular season finishes.
The rest of the match rather complicated the situation. Perhaps they'd better cancel that regular booking after all, as they won 93-83.
Led by sharpshooters Kirk Penney and Phill Jones, a team that couldn't make a basket in the early going found its shooting groove. When the ball wasn't going in, it hardly mattered. Mika Vukona was everywhere, pulling in a string of rebounds at either end of the court. Vukona had a career-defining night, notching 18 points and 16 rebounds for a sublime double-double.
As impressive as their comeback may have been, the Breakers' habit of digging themselves into cavernous holes in the first place remains a concern. With the prospect of a first finals campaign staring them in the face, a team that has now won 10 of its last 12 at home suffered a severe bout of stage fright before a bumper crowd.
Offensively, they were simply atrocious. The seeds of doubt planted by Penney's erratic early shooting display didn't take long to blossom into a team-wide crisis of confidence.
Try as he might by cycling rapidly through his bench, coach Andrej Lemanis simply couldn't find a player capable of shooting a basket. By the end of the quarter they had managed just 12 points and trailed by 17.
A 10-4 Breakers run at the start of the second quarter repaired some of the damage and a late flurry meant the gap had closed to eight at halftime.
Former Breaker Sean Redhage led the visitors in scoring, but a trio of Penney threes midway through the third quarter brought the Breakers within a basket before a soaring dunk from Orien Greene put them ahead for the first time.
The Wildcats rallied to lead by three for the final quarter but their finish mirrored their hosts' start and the Breakers had little trouble closing out the match to put one foot in the playoffs.
