One streak was going to end when the NBL's top two teams clashed on Friday night and it was the Perth Wildcats who beat the New Zealand Breakers 73-58 to win their 13th straight game at Perth Arena.
The Wildcats' victory saw New Zealand's 16-game winning run come to an end with Perth also ensuring it took an empathic 3-1 series win over the Breakers with an overall points advantage of 44 from the four games.
However, both Perth and New Zealand will now eagerly await confirmation of their semi-final opponents with the Wildcats finishing second with a 22-6 record and the Breakers first with 24-4.
Kevin Lisch hit 18 first half points for the Wildcats and finished with 24 to go with four assists.
Shawn Redhage added 14 points, Jesse Wagstaff 13, Matt Knight 12 points and 13 rebounds and Rhys Carter 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Corey Webster top-scored for the Breakers with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field with Mika Vukona adding 11 points and 13 rebounds. Cedric Jackson had just three points, but six assists, five boards and four steals.
Even without injured co-captain Damian Martin (heel), the Wildcats started the game on fire hitting the first 11 points with Redhage and Lisch particularly on fire.
However, the Breakers then hit back through the impressive Webster, an 11-0 run reducing the margin to just a point at quarter-time.
Lisch got even hotter in the second term with 14 points of his own as Perth took a 47-33 advantage into half-time, and then had another 7-0 run thanks to Redhage and Lisch to maintain their dominance during their third period.
CJ Bruton threatened to shoot the Breakers back into the game in the last quarter, but the deficit was a stretch too far with the Cats holding on to win by 13.
- AAP
