Abercrombie said his teammates had discussed a possible mental letdown after the Perth result which put them on course to quickly wrap up the minor premiership.
"They [Adelaide] were tough tonight, they came out especially in that first half and shot the ball pretty well.
"It took us a little while to shake them, for us it was about our defence in that first half and it took us too long to click into gear.''
Cedric Jackson was one of the few Breakers players to hit the ground running, he found his range early to finish with 17 points and seven assists.
It was an even battle until an 11-0 run from the defending champions - capped by a Jackson-to-Abercrombie buzzer-beating alley-oop - opened up a nine-point buffer at the first break.
Adelaide regrouped in the second quarter with a greater involvement from Diamon Simpson and a stronger resolve on defence, drawing level in the shadows of half-time.
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, but a Simpson dunk and three-point play fired up the crowd.
But their excitement was short lived with Wilkinson's timely triple giving the Breakers breathing room.
Three-pointers to Abercrombie and Daryl Corletto kept the momentum with the Breakers and the lead quickly ballooned to 17 in the fourth quarter.
