Blaze light up Breakers for first home loss

The NZ Breakers surrendered their unbeaten home record when outplayed by Australian National Basketball League rivals Gold Coast Blaze in Auckland tonight.

The sixth-placed Blaze beat one of the pre-season favourites 110-96 on the back of a hot second quarter when their offence proved unstoppable.

The Queenslanders decisively won the quarter 39-21 to go to the main break ahead 62-45 after an irresistible shooting performance.

It was Gold Coast's first win over the Auckland-based franchise in six meetings.

Gold Coast could do no wrong, nailing a phenomenal 10-from-10 from three-point range, and recording shooting percentages of 86 and 71 percent from the free throw line and from the field respectively.

They were figures the Breakers could not live with as Adam Gibson and Ayinde Ubaka, in particular, reeled off their shots at will.

Beaten Breaker Dillon Boucher was left shaking his head at Gold Coast's hot hands.

"That was probably some of the best shooting I've ever been involved with on a basketball court. Unfortunately it was against us," Boucher said.

"It felt like no different in the second half. It seemed like every time we gave them a look that they knock it down. What a great shooting performance."

Gold Coast could not maintain such lofty standards in the second half but by then they had earned a lead and the sort of momentum the Breakers could not overcome.

Gold Coast had multiple threats the Breakers struggled to live with, as Chris Goulding also got in on the act as well as the visitors gave the home side little respite.

Having entered the match with the second best defensive record in the league, the Breakers were guilty of standing back and allowing the visitors to peel of their shots.

The Blaze did not need a second invitation, then held their nerve in the third quarter when an increasing desperate Breakers could make no impression.

The Blaze protected their advantage at 87-68 entering the closing quarter, before the Breakers closed to within 14 points when desperation took over and they began firing from distance.

Both teams went cold at that stage, the match remaining scoreless for more than three minutes as anxious attempts repeatedly missed their mark and the game became increasingly ragged.

The Blaze had five players in double figures, led by Gibson with 26 while James Harvey and Ubaka accounted for 19 apiece.

The Breakers' best, statistically, was CJ Bruton, who contributed 17 points, closely followed by Tony Ronaldson on 16.

Gold Coast Blaze 110 (Adam Gibson 26, Ayinde Abaka 19, James Harvey 19, Chris Goulding 17, Anthony Petrie 14) NZ Breakers 96 (CJ Bruton 17, Tony Ronaldson 16, Thomas Abercrombie 13, Awvee Story 10). 1Q: 23-24, HT: 62-45, 3Q: 87-68.

- NZPA