The New Zealand Breakers completed their five-match stretch with home court advantage by compounding the Gold Coast Blaze's woes on Thursday night, protecting their Australian National Basketball League lead with a 120-108 victory.
Form suggested the Breakers, who now contemplate their first trans-Tasman trip of the season, would experience few problems with the competition's cellar dwellers at the North Shore Events Centre.
But the match-up between the league's highest and lowest scoring franchises turned into a nerve jangling experience for the favourites who twice saw handy six-point advantages erode.
Although they led at every break, the Breakers could not build a comforting buffer - a failing apparent from the tip-off.
It took a three-pointer from Phill Jones with one minute 50 seconds remaining to finally douse the undermanned Blaze's challenge and from there the Breakers finished with a flourish, outscoring the winless Blaze 10-2 to condemn the visitors to a ninth successive loss on the road and sixth straight defeat this season.
Gold Coast had never beaten the Breakers in their short three-match history and last year suffered their heaviest ever defeat, by more than 50 points, in Auckland.
But a similar blow out was never in prospect as the Breakers' usually reliable shooting from three-point range never fully materialised until Jones and CJ Bruton struck from long range.
The Breakers (4-1) nailed just six from 17 attempts from beyond the arc in a first half characterised by shoddy shooting by both sides. And their three-point percentage continued to languish - just 13 from 35 at the final buzzer.
Oscar Forman's foul trouble contributed to the Breakers' misfiring attack - he drained two of his four attempts but was forced to the bench after incurring his fourth personal with 8min 50sec left in the second period.
The depleted Blaze, with American Jauquin Hawkins out, had their own three-point weapon James Harvey for keeping the underdogs in touch before their fit import Luke Whitehead, who averaged a meagre 3.5 points per game until tonight, finally fired with a 22-point haul.
Guard Harvey made a trio of long range shots and was unlucky with a fourth that hit the target after the buzzer signalled the end of the first quarter.
With the Breakers coming up short from long range, forward Rick Rickert and Tall Black Kirk Penney saddled the early points-scoring responsibility.
Rickert quickly found his range and by halftime had eclipsed his season scoring average of 15.3 points per game.
Penney had 13 banked at the turn, his field goal percentage was down but he drew enough fouls to compensate at the stripe. He ended with a game high 29-point haul while Rickert contributed 22.
Blaze veteran Shane Heal made just one from eight from the floor for five points in the first spell while Pero Cameron, one of a trio of former Breakers, was limited to just two.
Cameron followed Forman into foul trouble early in the penultimate terms while the other former Breakers Ben Melmeth and Casey Frank also logged four fouls to put pressure on Brendon Joyce's already short-handed bench.
But Heal roused belatedly to lead the visitors with 23 points - including a three that gave them a brief third quarter lead.
The Breakers, who atoned for their 111-122 loss to the Taipans last week face a return match in Cairns on Wednesday before another tussle with the Gold Coast in Surfers Paradise on Saturday.
