Championship History: The New Zealand Breakers

When the Breakers make a Championship Series, they tend to win it.

Out of any active club in the NBL they currently have the best wining percentage in the big dance. They’ve won four out of their five appearances, and all five of those came in a dramatic six season period.

The New Zealand side of 2011-2016 is quite possibly the greatest to have stepped on an NBL floor, and their era of pure dominance was only ended by a Perth Wildcats side that was starting their own.

Can the Breakers begin another dynasty like the one we witnessed a decade ago?

Tom Abercrombie is the last man standing from New Zealand's championship era. Here he receives the Larry Sengstock Medal for being the Grand Final MVP from Sengstock in 2011.

The wins: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015

2011: The Breakers came into their first ever championship winning season off the back of a fifth-place finish the season prior. The additions of Mika Vukona and All-NBL First Team member Gary Wilkinson helped slingshot them to the top of the ladder with a 22-6 record in the 2010-11 season.

New Zealand was by far and away the standout side in the regular season, and finished the campaign a full five games ahead of the second-place Townsville Crocodiles.

The Breakers faced Perth in the semi-finals, and after losing Game 1 at home it looked like their remarkable season could come to an end, but they defeated the Wildcats in Perth before taking the decisive game in front of their home fans.

The Taipans awaited New Zealand in the final, and after demolishing their opposition in Game 1, the Breakers dropped Game 2 in a double overtime thriller. They then returned home to clinch the title courtesy of a comfortable 18-point win.

24-year-old local talent Tom Abercrombie stood tall to win the Grand Final MVP, with the likes of Wilkinson and Kirk Penney also having a strong series.

The addition of import Gary Wilkinson helped pull the Breakers to their first ever title.

2012: The departure of former league MVP and three-time NBL scoring champion Kirk Penney to Europe left a huge hole to fill in the guard rotation for the Breakers. Enter Cedric Jackson and former Melbourne Tiger Daryl Corletto.

Jackson took the NBL by storm and finished his first season in the competition as an All-NBL First Team member and led the league in assists. The Breakers were once again a dominant force in the regular season and finished with a 21-7 record.

The Breakers once again faced the Perth Wildcats in the post-season – this time in the Championship Series – after sweeping Townsville in the semi-finals.

They took Game 1 by six points, but Perth rebounded to take Game 2.

New Zealand, though, once again stood tall in the decisive game and emerged as six-point winners, and CJ Bruton wound back the clock to win his first Grand Final MVP award in what was his record-breaking fifth championship.

CJ Bruton (R) won a record breaking fifth NBL Championship in 2012.

2013: New Zealand entered the 2013 season with a goal of matching the three-peat achieved by the dominant Sydney side of the early 2000s.

Cedric Jackson, while already one of the top performers in the 2011-12 season, elevated his game dramatically to take home the league MVP award and lead the Breakers to an incredible 24-4 record, meaning New Zealand had topped the regular season standings three seasons in a row.

Yet another meeting with the Wildcats loomed in the Championship Series, but while New Zealand had been forced into a decisive Game 3 in each of its last two triumphs, this time Perth was swept aside in two games.

Jackson became the first player since Chris Anstey in 2006 to win both the regular season and Grand Final MVP awards in the same campaign.

Cedric Jackson completed the rare treble of regular season MVP, Grand Final MVP and NBL Champion in 2013.

2015: 2014 saw the first season that didn’t feature the Breakers in the Grand Final in almost half a decade. In fact, they finished seventh on the ladder with a dismal 11-17 record.

They rebounded heartily in 2015 though to finish second on the ladder. The return of Cedric Jackson after a stint in Slovenia and new signing Ekene Ibekwe took much of the load off of Tom Abercrombie’s shoulders and added needed quality back onto the roster, while CJ Bruton retired the season before.

The Breakers once again faced the Cairns Taipans, who had topped the regular season ladder being led by Cam Gliddon and Matt Burston.

The experience of New Zealand proved too much for the Taipans in Game 1, as they strolled to a 15-point win away from home, while New Zealand secured a dramatic two-point win to sweep the series in front of their own fans.

Jackson marked his successful return to the NBL by taking out the second NBL Grand Final MVP of his career.

Cedric Jackson (L) and Mika Vukona (R) hoist the 2015 NBL championship trophy.

Losses: 2016

2016: Aside from the blip suffered in the 2014 season, the Breakers had established themselves as one of the all-time great NBL dynasties by 2016.

Only Rhys Carter and Ekene Ibekwe left the club after its 2015 triumph, and former Melbourne guard Shane McDonald and rookie centre Charles Jackson came in to replace the pair.

The Breakers finished outside the top two for just the second time in six years at the end of the regular season, and a fourth-place finish meant they would not have the luxury of a home finals series.

After easing past Melbourne in two games, a meeting with the Wildcats once again awaited the Breakers in the final two.

Perth emerged with a victory in Game 1, while a win in front of the home New Zealand crowd kept the series alive for a Game 3.

However, the Wildcats eased past the Breakers to the tune of 23 points thanks to New Zealand’s struggles from the field – the side shot just 27 per cent from the field, due to some strong lock-down defence from the Damian Martin led Wildcats.

Martin emerged as the Grand Final MVP, and the Breakers lost head coach Dean Vickerman and star players Cedric Jackson and Tai Wesley.

Despite retaining much of the roster the Breakers slumped to a fifth-place finish and have only made the Playoffs once since their last Grand Final appearance.

The Perth Wildcats finally defeated the Breakers in a Grand Final Series in 2016.

Game 1 of the NBL23 Championship Series tips off on Friday, March 3 at 7pm AEDT.

All games will be broadcast live & free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies.