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PERTH Wildcats all-time great Bryce Cotton once again dug deep into his winning ways last night to sink a gallant Tasmania after New Zealand exposed the Taipans' occasionally soft underbelly with an all-the-way NBL rout in Cairns launched early by import Anthony Lamb.    

The match barely was underway when Lamb cut from one side of the court to the other, caught a pass, sank a 3-pointer and added a bonus free throw.

The clock was showing 9:49 and the Breakers were ahead 4-0. In 11 seconds. 

It was the dream start NZ coach Mody Maor could not have envisaged and the horror opening for Adam Forde's Taipans crew who had Bul Kuol hitting a 3-pointer before being called for his first foul. Thank heaven for small mercies, eh?

Inserted into a starter's role, Lithuanian Next Star Mantas Rubstavicius scored a tough runner, then threw down a dunk off a Finn Delany steal.

Thriving in their zone defence, the Breakers had Cairns all at sea as Parker Jackson-Cartwright nailed a threeball for 11-3, the Taipans lost offensively and relying on long balls as a counter.

Kuol stuck another triple - then collected his first foul - and Tahjere McCall added another from the corner as the Orange crawled to 9-13.

New Zealand countered by scoring the game's next 15 points to have a stranglehold grip on this, ahead 28-9.

Taran Armstrong provided Cairns' fourth three of the quarter but the Breakers were rolling and a 36-18 lead at the first break meant they had all the momentum too.

Seven points to Lamb, six to Jackson-Cartwright and five to Rubstavicius had the trio scoring as much as Cairns did for the period as New Zealand marched off the floor ahead 62-36.

The Taipans mildly threatened to make a game of it a few times briefly in the second half, Sam Mennenga making the most of his extended minutes with 13 points at 67 per cent but McCall had a rarer stinker and even Bobi Klintman could not find any touch.

For the Breakers, with Zylan Cheatham suited for the game but not risked, it was a much-needed morale-boosting victory.  

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 111 (Lamb 29, Rubstavicius 21, Jackson-Cartwright 20, Delany 11; Rubstavicius, Lamb 8 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 8 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 82 (Armstrong 15, Mennenga, Miller 13, Kuol 11; Waardenburg 6 rebs; Miller 5 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 3,584

WHEN the game is on the line in Perth, there's not an NBL watcher anywhere in Australia or New Zealand for that matter, in any doubt whose hands the Wildcats want the ball in.

Bryce Cotton once again delivered the coup de grace as for the second time this season, Perth turned around a double-digit deficit to beat Tasmania in a good-old fashioned barn-burning finish.

You'd have to think that if the Wildcats win again in Tasmania, that they may just have the JackJumpers' covered, having last night recovered from a 16-point margin at 42-26 in the second quarter. 

Make no mistake, Tai Webster's return was huge and the elevation of warrior Jesse Wagstaff into a starting role - remember when he couldn't even hit the court earlier this season? - also was significant, especially when Keanu Pinder and Alex Sarr were benched during those fateful final minutes.

Perth had come with a rush, Milton Doyle - apart from a brief period where he strung together eight consecutive points on three shots - just back from his father's funeral in the US, struggled, making just 4-of-17 shots.

Jack McVeigh (6 points, 3-of-8 shooting, 4 turnovers) also had an extremely rare quiet one, Marcus Lee hampered by customary foul woes. 

Down to crunch time and despite Will Magnay dominating in the paint in one of his finest outings and Jordon Crawford running amok outside, Webster pinged an open three to tie the match at 84-84 with 1:19 left.

Kristian Doolittle, who also had a now rare quiet night, fouled Crawford taking a triple. But the Jackies' dazzling diminutive wildcard missed his first free throw, converting the other two.

Webster had an open look from outside the arc but remembered who he plays alongside and whipped the ball to Cotton.

With 39 seconds left, it was the Ace who danced and dined outside the 3-point line, nailing the match's biggest shot and giving Perth an 87-86 lead.

Magnay (17 points at 78 per cent, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks) caught the ball outside the block, turned and took on two Wildcats before scoring and earning a bonus free throw.

But just as Crawford missed one of his three, Magnay did not convert his bonus and when Cotton was fouled at the other end with 5.9 seconds left, Tasmania's 88-87 lead looked cooked.

It was. Cotton iced both freebies for 89-88, Crawford missed a three for the win and Anthony Drmic missed his offensive rebound putback, Perth surviving a robust nail-biter.   

PERTH WILDCATS 89 (Cotton 28, Pinder 15, Wagstaff, Usher, T.Webster 10; Cotton 8 rebs; Cotton, Pinder 4 assts) d TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 88 (Crawford 29, Magnay 17, Drmic, Doyle 10; Magnay 10 rebs; Doyle 4 assts) at RAC Arena. Crowd: 12,600