USA imports star for Breakers in NBL win

New Zealand coach Mody Maor hailed his NBL side's grit and resilience as New Zealand held on in a nail-biter to edge Adelaide at home 89-83.

The Breakers prevailed over Tasmania on Friday and jetted home for a tough contest against Adelaide in front of their home fans just 48 hours later. 

"We got home last night at 3am," Maor said.

"We were in the gym watching a film at 1.30pm. 

"It's really important for us to play well in front of our fans. We really want to buy back the confidence and what the Breakers are.

"Adelaide were in New Zealand 48 hours before we were so we needed our 'C' game to be their 'A' game. We're very proud that we did."

Double-digit performances from American imports Barry Brown Jr and Dererk Pardon propelled the Breakers to a six-point victory at home in what was a grinding contest. 

The American duo took over in the fourth quarter with Pardon a menace in the paint and Brown Jr lighting the game up from beyond the three-point line.

With two minutes to play and the scores tied at 80-80 in Auckland, Pardon iced three free throws with Adelaide in the bonus, then Brown Jr hit a dagger triple to send the Breakers to the top of the NBL ladder.

The hosts notched their eighth win of the season and will remain top of the standings if the Sydney Kings lose to Illawarra in Sunday's second game.

The bank was well and truly open for Brown Jr whose late contested triple kissed off the glass with under a minute to go.

He finished with a game-high 22 points off the bench on 4-9 shooting from three-point range.

Pardon tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds, five on the offensive glass, for back-to-back double-doubles, while Jarrell Brantley added 17 points to go with 10 boards.

New Zealand now move to 8-3 for the season while Adelaide slip to four wins and five losses.

In the first half, both clubs traded blows in a tit-for-tat opening quarter with Kyrin Galloway's early cameo off the bench a key to Adelaide's 25-17 quarter-time lead.

The hosts rallied in the second and shut down Adelaide's offence going on a 19-7 scoring run with the Breakers maintaining a two-point lead at the main break. 

Brantley and Will McDowell-White notched double figures for the Breakers through 20 minutes with Galloway the only 36er to crack double digits.

Pardon and Brown Jr took over in the second half as the Breakers finished 50 per cent from the field and hit 12 of their 32 three-point attempts.