Tyler Harvey's missed bomb from almost halfway in the dying seconds allowed New Zealand to pull off a thrilling 88-85 win over Illawarra in Auckland and leapfrog the Hawks on the NBL ladder.
Pint-sized Parker Jackson-Cartwright (31 points) had several huge moments for the Breakers at Spark Arena on Friday, none bigger than his huge rebound against much taller timber off Harvey's miss to deny Illawarra a second crack at levelling the scores.
Jackson-Cartwright carried the injury-plagued Breakers, who conceded the first 13 points of the fourth quarter and were without their best player Anthony Lamb due to a season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon last Sunday against Perth, before losing Will McDowell-White to a twisted ankle late in the match.
"A lot of character went into this one," Breakers coach Mody Maor said.
"Adversity can take you places you couldn't get without it - and we've faced our share."
Harvey's miss meant NZ moved ahead of Illawarra on percentage, with both teams holding 12-13 win-loss records.
"I thought it was in," said Harvey, who scored 22 points but missed the big one, from almost the identical spot where he landed a miracle last season.
"It was unfortunate tonight that I didn't get that bounce."
NZ jumped ahead 8-2 but the first term was largely played on Illawarra's terms, the visitors moving ahead 21-18 at quartertime on import Justin Robinson's late triple.
The Hawks' shooting touch deserted them in the second quarter but their strong offensive rebounding made up for it, with Sam Froling's finger roll on the halftime buzzer giving them a 42-41 edge.
Quicksilver Jackson-Cartwright's dynamic attacks allowed the Breakers to take control in the third period.
NZ started the fourth term poorly but hit back with separate 7-0 and 8-0 runs to take the initiative.
After Harvey's third triple trimmed the Breakers' buffer to two points, Izaya Le'afa stole Robinson's errant inbound pass, a passage that finished in a thunderous Zylan Cheatham dunk.
On the next play, Hawk Davo Hickey's sideline lob was slammed by Gary Clark with 11 seconds remaining to give Illawarra life, but NZ held on.
"They went on a run at the right time and got the better end of it," Hawks coach Justin Tatum said.
"It was a tough loss for us."
