That prospect looked doubtful for the opening half, as the Crocs (5-10) threatened to tear apart the form book and upset their first-placed opponents. But the Breakers (12-4) dominated when it mattered most, riding a hot fourth quarter to an impressive win that came a night after rivals Perth (10-5) dropped a game against Sydney.
The Breakers' backcourt trio came away with the most credit from tonight, each powering the offence after a soft defensive display in the first half. Corey Webster led the Breakers with 21 points, chiming in with 11 in the crucial fourth quarter, while Cedric Jackson had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
But it was Rhys Carter who perhaps made the biggest difference. The veteran, in his first year with the Kiwi club, scored a season-high 19 on seven-of-10 shooting, making five of his six attempts from beyond the arc.
Indeed, Carter was the only Breaker to enjoy any luck from deep in the first half, with the role player draining shots to spark his side when the main men were struggling to get going.
"Rhys really gave us those buckets in the second quarter when we were struggling to find something," said coach Dean Vickerman. "He really kept us in the game and was good enough to stretch it once we got going as well."
It took time for that to happen as the Breakers began the encounter appearing tired and over-worked. That lethargy saw the home side struggle to shut down their opponents' shooting and saw them out-muscled on the boards, with the disparity on the offensive glass helping the Crocs to both second-chance points and the lead.
"The areas that we identified defensively that we wanted to be good at early on were guarding the three-ball and offensive rebounding," Vickerman said. "And they were two areas where I thought we were poor early in the game. But this group's been good enough to make changes and we did a great job in the second half."
There was an obvious lift in intensity after the break, with the Breakers' physicality resulting in 21 trips to the foul line, compared with just eight in the opening half. Carter was one of the few positives as the Breakers trailed for much of the first 20 minutes, with the Australian making back-to-back threes to prevent the Crocs from creating any breathing room.
With the defensive clamps applied at halftime, the Breakers grabbed their first lead since in the third but were unable to pull away and just a possession separated the sides heading to the fourth.
The two teams traded leads to begin the final period before Jackson and Webster finally came to the fore, finding inspiration from a timely three-point play from Alex Pledger to take control on the offensive end and close out the game.
Breakers 96 (Webster 21, Carter 19, Jackson 13)
Crocs 84 (Blanchfield 16, Conklin 16, Steindl 15)
HT: 44-50
