Big game, big shots and one big stride towards that threepeat.

A dazzling display of shooting from Daryl Corletto in Auckland today put the New Zealand Breakers in control of the Australian NBL's best-of-three grand final series with a 79-67 victory over the Perth Wildcats.

One hand is now on that trophy they call 'The Doc', just one more win required for the Breakers to secure just the second ever threepeat in Australian NBL history.

In front of a sell-out crowd of 9314 at their downtown Auckland fortress, it was former Melbourne Tiger and spotup shooting specialist Corletto who led the way for a Breakers team that was switched on from the opening tip and never looked in danger of being headed.

Corletto finished with a game-high 19 points in the all-important series opener, going seven-of-10 from the floor and three-of-five from deep in a classical display of shooting that featured the full gamut from long-range daggers to short floaters.

His timely offensive masterclass was crucial, too, as the Breakers were able to keep their score ticking over regularly enough to always keep daylight between them and the Wildcats.

Cedric 'Action' Jackson had a busy game too, his 14 points (5/15 FG) supplemented by five boards, three assists and four steals as the Breakers led this grand final from go to whoa.

Mika Vukona added a 10-point/10-rebound double-double, while Tom Abercrombie (nine points, nine boards and four huge blocks), Corey Webster (nine points on four-of-four shooting and three assists) and Alex Pledger (nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks) all found ways to contribute to the cause.

American southpaw Kevin Lisch led the Cats scoring with 19 points, but the Breakers would have been happy with the five-of-15 shooting he was kept to. Shawn Redhage added 17 points for the visitors while a relatively quiet Matt Knight finished with 13 points and 12 boards.

But this was very much a game controlled by the Breakers as they kept the turnover count to a manageable minus-three and won the rebounding 38-35 overall.

The Wildcats never managed to disrupt the Breakers enough with their pressure defence, and even when they did their shooting was so off-key - a poor 28 percent for the match - they were never able to make the run they needed to.

There was certainly plenty of grand final intensity in the first half which ended with the Breakers holding a nine-point lead (44-35) for what appeared to be a pretty decisive advantage.

The hosts shot better (15/32 FG, 4/6 3PT) than the Cats (11/38 FG, 4/17 3PT) and did a solid enough job on the boards (19-19 overall) and in limiting turnovers (eight) to prevent the visitors getting on any sort of a run.

The Breakers had trailed through the early going but led 18-15 at the end of the opening quarter and skipped out by as many as 10 in the second before settling on that useful halftime lead.

Jackson led the Breakers' first-half haul with 10 points, two boards, two assists and a pair of steals, while Corletto swished both of his triples for nine big points, Abercrombie had six points and five rebounds and Webster brought his now customary energy off the bench for five points, two boards and three assists.

Redhage and Lisch had 21 of the Cats' 35 first-half points between them to underline their importance to the visitors' cause.

The second period also included arguably the play of the season when Abercrombie followed up a missed Jackson driving layup with the most ferocious put-back dunk seen at this venue. The hops are well and truly back.

It didn't look good for the Cats when they could make no inroads in the third quarter, trailing by 11 at the end of a spell where the Breakers extended the lead by as many as 14 on the back of another crowd-pleasing Abercrombie dunk.

And, sure enough, the comeback run the home crowd feared never came over the final stanza as the hosts strolled to the most decisive of series opening victories.

NZ Breakers 79 (Daryl Corletto 19, Cedric Jackson 14, Mika Vukona 10), Perth Wildcats 67 (Kevin Lisch 19, Shawn Redhage 17, Matt Knight 13). 1Q: 18-15; HT: 44-35; 3Q: 62-51.

NZ Breakers lead best-of-3 grand final series 1-0.

- © Fairfax NZ News