Breakers end Perth curse to shake up finals picture

The New Zealand Breakers have stifled a frustrated Bryce Cotton to stave off the Perth Wildcats and shake-up the finals picture with a road win in the last game before the penultimate round.

New Zealand stuttered in the second half but did enough to prevail 89-78 on Sunday, with runaway MVP favourite Cotton kept to just 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting by the Breakers.

The visitors won every quarter, with their only sore spot an early injury to star import Anthony Lamb, who played less than nine minutes due to a lower leg ailment.

He went down when attempting to take off on his left foot and when he realised it happened with no contact, the former Golden Warriors NBA forward knew he was in trouble.

Lamb did return to the bench for the rest of the game, but remained seated the whole time with it apparent scans won't reveal good news to either his calf or Achilles.

The loss of him and his 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds a game only makes the performance from the Breakers all the more impressive for just a second victory in their last 13 visits to RAC Arena.

Coach Mody Maor had a full roster available for the game for the first time all season, but that lasted one whole quarter, and New Zealand showed great heart once more to show what they can overcome.

On top of the stifling defensive job they did on not only Cotton, but the Wildcats as a whole keeping them to 78 points on 39 per ecnt shooting including 4-of-19 from downtown, they got the job done offensively and on the glass too which had been a significant focus.

Livewire guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright was outstanding with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds with the only time Perth had any momentum was with him seated for a significant stretch in the third quarter.

Zylan Cheatham was at his explosive best too with 24 points and eight rebounds with Mangok Mathiang a strong interior presence with 11 points, nine boards and three blocks.

Breakers Next Star Mantas Rubstavicius had 10 points too on 2-of-2 three-point shooting while 177-game veteran Finn Delany returned from a calf injury with six points in 12 minutes.

The win sees New Zealand improve to 11-13, still one win behind fifth and sixth-placed Sydney and Brisbane (12-14), but with two games in hand.

The Breakers will face the Bullets in their first game of the final round in a match that could decide who sneaks into the top-six and earns a play-in spot.

The Wildcats' loss also keeps the Tasmania JackJumpers in the hunt for a top-two berth that would mean they avoid the play-in tournament at Perth's expense, although the Wildcats would need to lose their three remaining games.

Perth eventually surged, with a nine-point run late in the third quarter bringing the margin back to six.

It remained close to begin the final quarter before two moments of strength from Mathiang swayed the contest again.

First, the Breakers forward grabbed a tough rebound from a missed Perth free-throw, shook both Keanu Pinder (21 points, 15 rebounds) and Jesse Wagstaff to the floor, and took the ball up to assist a Izayah Le'afa triple.

He then drove to the basket for a tough left-handed lay-up and the lead was back to eight points with two minutes to play.

It was a disappointing loss also for the Wildcats fans to watch ahead of the retirement of six-time NBL champion, five-time championship captain and six-time NBL Best Defensive Player Damian Martin's No. 53 jersey with a ceremony held post-match.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 18

PERTH WILDCATS 78 (Pinder 21, Cotton 13, Wagstaff 13)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Cheatham 24, Jackson-Cartwright 19, Mathiang 11)

BOX SCORE