The New Zealand Breakers have launched their NBL Ignite Cup defence by trouncing the Cairns Taipans 98-75.
Winners of the inaugural Ignite Cup last season, the Breakers won every quarter at Auckland's Spark Arena on Wednesday night to take home all seven points on offer.
Early MVP candidate Parker Jackson-Cartwright continued his scorching start to the season with 27 points and 10 assists.
Hulking Sam Mennenga posted 18 points and nine rebounds for NZ, while Mojave King added 14 off the bench, including 4-of-6 three-pointers.
Jack McVeigh waged a solo vigil for Cairns, scoring 16 points, albeit on a ragged 7-of-21 clip, including 1-of-11 from long range.
The Breakers hit 15 of 27 from three-point territory, to the Taipans' 7 of 36.
"We came out tonight with a certain focus and sense of urgency," captain Jackson-Cartwright said. "At times our offence got a little stagnant, but our defence held up."
NZ burst ahead 7-0 before Cairns scaled the gap back to 19-18 on veteran Shaun Bruce's three-pointer right on quarter-time.
Turnovers crept in for the Breakers, as the Taipans briefly edged in front early in the second term, before the brilliant Jackson-Cartwright carried the home side back into pole position for good.
He had 21 points by halftime, including 5-of-6 from downtown, to steer NZ back in front 52-35.
King drained three treys without a miss as the Breakers caught fire from the perimeter, knocking down 6-of-8 three-pointers in the third period to march ahead 62-46.
Cairns pegged the lead back to 11 points in the fourth before a sensational alley-oop dunk from the acrobatic Carlin Davison - off a pinpoint sideball lob from Jackson-Cartwright - sparked a 13-0 NZ spree amid an overall 18-3 run as the score blew out to 94-68 and the wheels came right off for the Snakes.
"They bullied us," Cairns coach Adam Forde admitted.
"We're not in a good spot at the moment. The big thing is it's all on the mental side.
"This was a moment to really build some resilience, and we don't have that.
"Where we're at right now, we don't answer the challenge."
