KEY POINTS:
The Breakers won't admit as much, but tonight's sudden death playoff in Brisbane against the defending champions Bullets is a classic grudge match.
Tempers have cooled since December when the Bullets put the boot in after crushing the Breakers by 32 points - a victory inspired by a
radio campaign that mocked Brisbane's Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw in the leadup to the Breakers' 127-126 victory in Auckland earlier in the season.
The ad, which asked "who is Craig Bradshaw anyway?", in response to the 210cm centre's decision to sign with Brisbane instead of the New Zealand club, infuriated the Bullets.
"Don't attack a Brisbane Bullet because we're going to come back at you," said Bullets MVP candidate Ebi Ere after the match.
The usually laid-back Bradshaw also weighed in after the match, saying he and his family had been hurt by the ad and accusing the Breakers of "crossing the line".
Among Bradshaw's complaints were that the Breakers had persisted in "throwing pennies at me" during his US college career.
What the Breakers saw as a sensible policy of keeping in touch with a potential home grown star, Bradshaw seems to have viewed as a threat to his NBA ambitions.
"Eventually they offered me more money than the Bullets but by then they'd shown they didn't really care about me," he said.
General manager Richard Clarke played down the antagonism between the teams ahead of tonight's match but club insiders confirmed that Bradshaw had angered many at the club by putting the boot in after the last match instead of saying how he felt before it.
"It is just another game," Clarke said.
"We are pretty comfortable with the way we went about trying to recruit Craig. We are not too concerned about those comments. We've talked to Craig and we don't think there is anything particularly bad going on there."
Star guard Kirk Penney, who top scored in Thursday's victory over Cairns, also insisted there was no bad blood between the Breakers and a Brisbane side that also includes retired Tall Black Dillon Boucher.
"I root for Craig and root for Dillon through the year when they are not playing us," Penney said.
"As New Zealanders I want them to do well. But when it comes down to this situation, our backs are against the wall and the loser goes home.
"It is just about going out there and playing as hard as we can and getting the victory. I don't think there is any bad faith between the teams at all."
Bradshaw has been patchy in his debut NBL season, averaging 13.1 points and 24.5 minutes a game and shooting at 47.1 per cent.
His inconsistency has provoked criticism from Bullets coach Joey Wright but he was in top form in the champions' final regular season game, notching a 26-point and 10-rebound double-double against Wollongong.
The Bullets have lost just twice at home this season but, without the departed Darnell Mee and injured star Sam Mackinnon, they are not the same proposition as the team that lifted last year's title.
The Bullets finished the regular season in third and sat out the first round of the playoffs with a bye, while the Breakers are coming off a convincing victory in Cairns.
The Breakers trailed by three at halftime against the Taipans but turned in a relentless defensive display to hold the Taipans to just 30 second half points in a 100-78 victory.
"We are taking a lot of confidence into this game," coach Andrej Lemanis said.
"If we play that style of defence we give ourselves a chance to win."
Penney said the players believed they could win and a book a spot in a best-of-three semifinal series against the Melbourne Tigers.
"We have to [win], we don't have any choice. They are a very good team and last time we were here they really handed it to us.
"The key for us is to have the belief and know that we can do it. We are very capable of it if we play our basketball."
NBL PLAYOFFS
Quarter-finals: Townsville Crocodiles 97 Gold Coast Blaze 89; NZ Breakers 100 Cairns Taipans 78; Perth Wildcats v Crocodiles (played overnight); Brisbane Bullets v Breakers (tonight, 9.30pm Brisbane).
Semifinals: February 26-March 2 (best of 3 home and away)
Sydney Kings v Wildcats or Crocodiles; Melbourne Tigers v Bullets or Breakers.
Grand final: March 5-14
Best of five (home and away)
