The New Zealand Breakers have kept their NBL finals hopes alive after surviving a late scare to defeat the Tasmania JackJumpers 94-88 in Auckland.
The Breakers, playing at their original home base at Eventfinda Stadium for the first time since 2018, assumed complete control on Friday when they held a 21-point third-quarter lead on the back of a commanding 33-19 second term before the JackJumpers mounted a furious fightback which fell just short.
Import trio Parker Jackson-Cartwright (25 points, 6-of-8 three-pointers), Zylan Cheatham (20, 2-of-4) and Anthony Lamb (18, 3-of-4) led the way for the hosts, who connected on 15-of-26 from downtown and moved back past Illawarra into seventh spot on the ladder.
"We showed real maturity and real growth in the way we handled the adversity in the third quarter," Breakers coach Mody Maor said.
"We played the right way ... effort plays, stayed consistent. Very proud."
Jack McVeigh (22 points) and Milton Doyle (19) piloted the JackJumpers, who were left to rue a wayward 14-of-26 success rate from the free-throw line.
McVeigh was productive early for Tasmania but Cheatham was better, burying two triples and throwing down a powerful dunk in a 10-point first-quarter haul, to give the Breakers the edge at the first change.
Fellow imports Jackson-Cartwright and Lamb followed Cheatham's lead in the second term as the Breakers dominated in all facets.
Lamb, held scoreless in the first period, started the second with a fadeaway and back-to-back triples before Cartwright added another three treys in his 15-point first-half. A lopsided half ended with the Breakers up 57-39 on Will McDowell-White's superb, spinning drive.
Crawford's fifth three without a miss extended the Breakers' buffer to 62-43 before the JackJumpers turned up the defensive heat and closed to 69-60 at three-quarter time, with centre Will Magnay prominent but profligate at the stripe (5-of-14 free throws).
Doyle buried four three-point bombs in the fourth quarter as the JackJumpers closed to within four points inside the last minute before the Breakers held their nerve from the foul line down the stretch.
