The New Zealand Breakers are through to the NBL grand final and on this form are going to take some stopping.
On Saturday night in Adelaide Dean Vickerman's men cruised to a 94-83 victory that completed an eyebrow-raising 2-0 semifinal sweep of a 36ers outfit that once again had no answer to the intensity and execution of their playoff-tested Kiwi rivals.
The Breakers now await the winner of the semifinal between the Cairns Taipans and Perth Wildcats which heads to West Australia on Sunday night with the North Queenslanders leading 1-0.
It is the Breakers' fourth grand final appearance in five years and their record in the Big Dance currently stands at an impressive 3-0.
The Sixers may have carried all the momentum into the playoffs with a 10-win streak to finish the regular season but it was the Breakers who elevated their game when it really mattered to leave Joey Wright's men in their dust.
After the near perfect display in Game One's 111-82 thumping at Vector, this was less pretty, more gritty, but equally as impressive as the Breakers, winners of three straight championships between 2010-13, smothered the Sixers on their home floor.
They kept the renowned 36ers offence to just 14 points in each of the second and third quarters and left them with far too much to do over the run home as the lead hit 20 nearing the mid-point of the final quarter
The Sixers shot just 37 per cent from the floor, while the Breakers operated at a far more efficient 53 per cent clip for the game. Notably, star Aussie Brock Motum was kept to just two points on zero-of-eight shooting.
"It feels awesome," said Breakers skipper Mika Vukona afterwards. "They were the hottest team in the competition and we knew if we didn't bring it today it could turn real easy on us."
It was another excellent all-round effort by the Breakers who had five players in double-figures and simply too much for the 36ers to handle.
Cedric Jackson, as he does, stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points (6/12 FG), 10 rebounds and six assists, while fellow import Ekene Ibekwe continued his impressive second half of the season with 18 points (on seven-of-eight shooting), four boards and a pair of blocks.
Corey Webster chipped in with 15 pooints (5/11 FG) and four assists, Vukona made five of his seven shots for 12 points and four boards, while Tai Wesley led the bench effort with a tidy 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Oh, by the way, Vickerman is now 2-0 as a head coach in playoff basketball.
Import point guard Jamar Wilson again led the Sixers with a game-high 23 points, with chief support from Daniel Johnson (16 points) and Adam Gibson (14 points).
The Breakers had done very well indeed to build a 10-point halftime lead (49-39) as they harried the Sixers into a 41 per cent shooting half, while converting at an extremely efficient 58 per cent themselves.
The visitors had kept their noses in front throughout a busy opening quarter, leading 28-25 at the first intermission on the back of seven quick points (and two fouls) from Webster and six off the bench from Pledger.
The home side, struggling to marry their urgency with execution, opened the second quarter with a 5-0 run, but by the mid-point the Breakers' lead was out to six and hit double-figures nearing the end of the period.
To have any chance, Adelaide needed to own the third quarter – instead they managed just 14 points as the Breakers grew their advantage to a decisive 17 (70-53) that all but sealed the deal with still a stanza remaining.
NZ Breakers 94 (Ekene Ibekwe 18, Cedric Jackson 18, Corey Webster 15, Mika Vukona 12, Tai Wesley 11), Adelaide 36ers 83 (Jamar Wilson 23, Daniel Johnson 16, Adam Gibson 14, Anthony Petrie 10). 1Q 28-25; HT: 49-39; 3Q: 70-53.
