Basketball: Semi sweep no shock to Breakers

Cedric Jackson of the Breakers goes for the basket during game two of the NBL Finals series between the New Zealand Breakers and the Adelaide 36ers. Photo / Getty Images

Two crushing wins against one of the hottest teams in the history of the competition - who saw that coming?

Well, the Breakers did. Their semifinal sweep over Adelaide may have surprised outsiders but, by romping through to a fourth championship series in five years, they were merely meeting their own expectations.

Before the Australian NBL playoffs began, the Breakers were at pains to point out the blank slate on which they were working. Patchy form meant nothing, they insisted, and neither did Adelaide's 10-game win streak, second only to the Breakers' efforts from two seasons ago.

Turns out they were right, with a 29-point thrashing in Thursday's opener followed 48 hours later by a similarly commanding 11-point triumph in game two in Adelaide.

And now the Breakers await the winners of the other semifinal series between Cairns and Adelaide, left to reflect on an unsurprising outcome.

"I knew that we had these kind of performances in us," said small forward Tom Abercrombie. "I was trying to tell people about the step up and taking things to that next level - playoffs are a different animal. We've got guys who have been there and done it before and we knew that we had to take things up to another level."

That level looked a long way off as the Breakers limped across the line, losing three of their last four including an encounter with Adelaide in which the 36ers appeared, for three-and-a-half quarters, a superior side.

But before those stumbles began, the Breakers had clinched a spot in the top two, and the players might have felt like the job was done.

"Those last few weeks, they're tough when you've already got a playoff spot secured," Abercrombie said. "There was a feeling that we were just waiting for the playoffs to roll around and, now that it's here, we've been able to take that step up that we needed to."

Abercrombie believed his side would have to take another step up ahead of Friday's first grand final game but, now they're back where they belong after a season's absence, finding the will would be far from problematic.

"It feels fantastic to be back," he said. "You could just tell in these last two games, the guys were extremely hungry and wanted to get back to that big stage."

The Breakers' first home game in the final series will be at the North Shore Events Centre as the Vector Arena is unavailable.