The New Zealand Breakers have snapped their Australian National Basketball League playoffs hoodoo, with a comfortable 81-64 victory over the Sydney Kings in Auckland.
The Breakers are chasing their third straight NBL title but hadn't won the first match of the semi-final series in their past two title runs.
But the Auckland-based side never trailed the Kings at Vector Arena, and can now sew up a finals spot if they can win in Sydney on Monday night.
Tom Abercrombie top-scored for the Breakers with 15 points, all in the second half, and the swingman says while it's good to be in control, they will need to take it up another level in game two.
The Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis says his side was strong in the defensive end and disrupted the opposition at different times.
Elsewhere the Perth Wildcats ensured their playoffs began as expected with a convincing 93-65 win over the Wollongong Hawks at the Perth Arena.
