THE New Zealand Breakers were at their best when they took down the Tasmania JackJumpers to the tune of 32 points at Spark Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The JackJumpers came into the match on quite the winning streak, and were one of the form sides of the competition. However, a defensive masterclass from the home side brought that streak to an end, as New Zealand taught the NBL’s newest team a lesson as they restricted them to just 64 points for the match.

Tasmania was completely blown away in the second half as the Breakers flexed their muscle in front of the home crowd, and the side continues to build on its momentum in a season that has already exceeded expectations.

New Zealand Breakers (94) def. Tasmania JackJumpers (62)

The Breakers were incredibly stingy on the defensive end, not giving the opposition any room to work with both inside the paint and behind the perimeter for the entirety of the match.

Typically it is the JackJumpers that produce this type of performance, but Tassie was given a taste of its own medicine on Sunday afternoon, unable to get any sort of flow or offensive rhythm going on the road, and the shooting percentages reflected that.

Tasmania was held to just 33 per cent shooting from the field as a whole, including numbers of 7/27 (25 percent) from behind the arc, which is where the JackJumpers have been known to fire. Good lateral movement and quick defensive rotations saw the Breakers completely outclass the opposition.

While it was still a close game at the main break, New Zealand’s offence clicked in the second half, as the hosts dropped 61 points in the final two quarters alone, which is just one less than Tasmania registered for the entire match.

Import Barry Brown Jr. was the star of the show on the offensive end, finishing the match with a game-high 24 points on 9/11 shooting and making four of his five attempts from behind the arc. It was his most accurate shooting performance of the year, with this being an area of concern in the opening rounds.

Big man Dererk Pardon was also impactful, producing a big double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds as he controlled the paint and outworked Tasmania’s bigs. He has been a more than solid contributor for the Breakers since joining the team, and Sunday’s performance further echoed those claims.

It was one of New Zealand’s best performances of the season, particularly defensively, and the side will be looking to carry its winning traits forward as the Breakers aim to return to finals.