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A red-hot Melbourne Tigers left the New Zealand Breakers one game away from an Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) exit with a dominant 117-99 victory in the first semifinal in Melbourne.
The Tigers shot superbly and were simply too good at The Cage, leaving the Breakers needing a massive turnaround back in Auckland on Friday night to keep the best-of-three series alive.
Even with an upset on the North Shore, the Breakers will somehow have to conjure another victory in Melbourne on Sunday to earn a maiden grand final appearance.
The Breakers crossed the Tasman at full strength, confident of matching the Tigers after a 131-101 demolition of Adelaide in the quarterfinals.
But they were never in the game after the first quarter break as Melbourne shot out to an early advantage and led 61-46 at halftime.
The Breakers trailed by 17 points entering the final quarter which amounted to damage control as they outscored the hosts 29-24.
The final score was only marginally inside the Breakers' season-worst record points conceded, the 111-122 defeat to Townsville in October.
It was the Tigers' third consecutive win over the Breakers this year after the Auckland-based side won their first two meetings early in the season.
The Tigers rode home on some hot outside shooting, with Luke Kendall topscoring with 25 and Ebi Ere 23, while David Barlow was huge with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Guard CJ Bruton led the Breakers with 22 points while a subdued Kirk Penney could only manage 19 under heavy defensive pressure.
Dillon Boucher was the standout in a beaten side with hard-working effort including 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The Tigers shot 50 per cent of their three-pointers to the Breakers' 40 per cent, while the visitors were called for endless fouls as the Tigers shot 25 of 31 from the line.
Outside shooting was meant to be the Breakers' big advantage, but the Tigers were lethal from long range early on.
With plenty of defensive attention focused on the Tigers' former NBA giant Chris Anstey, the hosts relished the extra space as Ere led a three-point blitz of seven-from-10 in the first quarter.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis was unimpressed at the sleepy start on defence and an expletive-laden blast at his players at the first time-out saw the television cameras pointed elsewhere.
Breakers veteran Tony Ronaldson was up for the early exchanges and his three consecutive three-pointers got them back in it, although a trio of early fouls on the two-time ANBL winner were a concern.
The Tigers led 31-26 at quarter-time and quickly stretched their lead to 15 points early in the second period as Breakers errors mounted.
The lead was still 15 points at the main break as the Tigers' three-point ratio remained an impressive 10-from-15, while the Breakers couldn't keep up at seven-from-19.
A fall-away Bruton three-pointer under severe pressure clawed it back to a 10-point deficit early in the third quarter, but the Tigers were only just getting started.
With every play they attempted coming off, and the Breakers appearing shellshocked, the Tigers won the third quarter 32-24 and the game was in safe keeping at 93-70.
- NZPA
