Basketball: Tensions high for crucial semi clash

It's a three-game series but the Breakers and Perth Wildcats know that whoever wins tonight's opening semifinal on the North Shore will have one foot in the ANBL finals.

Should the Breakers win tonight, they will have two chances to finish off the Wildcats - in Perth on Sunday afternoon or back in Auckland next Wednesday night. But lose and they face a must-win match in Perth just to stay alive. Having lost just four matches on their home court all season - and having smacked the Breakers by 40 points in the only meeting in Perth - the Wildcats will be supremely confident of finishing the job on Sunday should they take pole position
tonight.

"Perth and us understand how pivotal this first game is," star shooting guard Kirk Penney said.

"It is a huge game, it is as simple as that. We need to get this win."

A Breakers side that dominated the league phase of the season will be strongly favoured to convert their home court advantage into a series win, however the Wildcats believe the New Zealand club will wilt under the pressure of expectation.

"They've been such a great team all year, they've underachieved the last few years and we're still the reigning champions," Perth co-captain Brad Robbins told a local newspaper. "So they're going to be pretty nervous playing us. I'd be nervous playing us. There's certainly a lot of expectation on them to win. Whether they think it or not, it's definitely going to creep in."

Certainly the Breakers are acutely aware of past failings, which include missing the finals last year and blowing a home final against the Melbourne Tigers the previous season.

"I guess all of that now is a little irrelevant," Penney said. "It is in the background, yeah it is on our minds and it should drive us, but it is [this] 40 minutes, that is all that matters now."

Just as the fierce rivals appreciate the significance of game one, both are expecting a physical contest.

"They will push and shove and hold and do whatever they have to do to win," Penney said. "They are a very scrappy team and a very well-coached team. They play the type of basketball they need to play to win ball games. We know we have to do a great job on the boards."

Robbins denied the Wildcats were to blame for the testy encounters between the sides, which reached their most explosive when Phill Jones was suspended for punching Shaun Redhage in the groin two seasons ago.

"I think we're a physical team, but they're a physical team too so I wouldn't say that we're the instigators," Robbins said.

"I think we're just two teams that play hard and we always have pretty good tussles. I wouldn't say we are any more physical than they are."

The Breakers have an injury concern over Corey Webster, who rolled an ankle in training yesterday, but have otherwise peaked physically for finals.

Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis declined to put a measure on the game's importance. But after six seasons at the helm of the club, his overall record stands at 93 wins and 93 losses. If that mark stands at above 50 per cent at the end of the play-offs the Breakers will likely have become the first New Zealand sports team to win an Australia club championship.

'It is just a game," Lemanis said. "We have put ourselves in a good position, given ourselves every opportunity to do well. Now the ball is thrown up and what happens happens."

ANBL Playoffs

Breakers (1) v Perth Wildcats (4). Best-of-three series
* Game one: Tonight, NSEC 7pm tip-off
* Game two: Sunday, Perth 5pm tip-off
* Game three: Wednesday, NSEC 7pm (if required)
Head-to-head this season:
* Round 2: Breakers 96-94 (Auckland)
* Round 5: Perth 114-74 (Perth)
* Round 19: Breakers 82-79