The New Zealand Breakers forward Gary Wilkinson believes with their backs against the wall the side will respond well to their sudden-death situation, after losing 99-82 to the Townsville Crocodiles in Auckland last night.
The loss in game one of the best-of-three semi-final series means the top-seeded Breakers will have to repeat last year's effort against Perth in winning their second semi away from home to retain their Australian National basketball league title.
The Crocodiles outplayed the Breakers in most areas of the game, shooting at 57 per cent compared to 45 per cent for the Breakers, and out-rebounding the Breakers 35-27.
Wilkinson says they can take confidence from last year when came back from a first up finals loss.
The Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis says it wasn't a Breakers-style performance and believes they'll play better on Thursday.
