The opening 10 minutes were dominated by two players, Jackson sparkling with 13 points while Johnson was dominant under the ring with 12.
It was an even battle until an 11-0 New Zealand run - capped by a Jackson-to-Abercrombie buzzer-beating ally-oop - opened up a nine-point buffer at the first break.
Adelaide regrouped in the second quarter with a greater involvement from Simpson and a stronger resolve on defence, drawing level in the shadows of halftime.
But a costly turnover allowed Jackson to give New Zealand a 47-45 advantage at the long break.
It was scrappy beginning to the second half with just one bucket for each team in the opening three minutes.
An arm-wrestle ensued from that point, but a Simpson dunk and three-point play a short time later fired up the crowd.
But their excitement was short lived with Wilkinson dropping a buzzer-beating triple to put the Breakers nine ahead with 10 minutes to play.
Three-pointers to Abercrombie and Daryl Corletto kept the momentum with New Zealand and the lead quickly ballooned to 17 in the fourth quarter.
The Sixers battled hard but left too much to do in the final minutes.
-AAP
