Crawford stands tall in Doyle's absence to guide JackJumpers home

They may have been separated by 25 centimetres and the width of the Pacific Ocean but Crawford said he was thinking of his fellow American who flew home this week following the death of his father.

"Milt's my guy and we're with him," said the 168-centimetre guard who dominated the 97-80 victory in Auckland, racking up 30 points.

Defining "the Jackies' way" as "playing hard, getting up the floor, making it difficult and playing together", the 33-year-old's distinctive arm sleeve and bright orange sneakers guaranteed an eye-catching contribution which even included making passes after landing on his backside.

"My teammates said they had my back and kudos to them," he told Foxtel at the end of the game.

Sitting second on the ladder, Scott Roth's team turned the tables on a Breakers side who had inflicted their only loss in five - in a five-point foul-fest at the Silverdome - and were chasing a third straight win.

Crawford dominated the early exchanges and by half-time had 20 points with no teammate breaking double figures.

However, the visitors needed Jack McVeigh's three-quarter-court buzzer-beater to put them two points ahead at the first break.

Restricting the Breakers to just eight points in the second term saw the lead stretch out to 17 and 19 at the next two breaks before the hosts edged the final term.

Spurred on by excitable coach Mody Moar in a fiesty finale, the Breakers even came within 10 points with just under three minutes to play before a huge block from Will Magnay - en route to a double double - swung the momentum.

Magnay finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds while McVeigh contributed 20 points and Majok Deng 14 as the Jackies took it in turn to kill off potential fightbacks from downtown.

Five different players nailed three-pointers with Sean McDonald's entire nine-point contribution coming from beyond the arc.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright led the Breakers' scoring with 25 points although Anthony Lamb (15), Mangok Mathiang (11), Izayah Le'afa and Mantas Rubtaviius (both 10) also made double figures.

The victory moves the JackJumpers to 9-5, behind only Melbourne United (10-3).

They face the competition's longest journey with their next fixture in Perth - against the fourth-placed Wildcats on Friday evening.

The Breakers dropped to second last with the same 4-9 record as the Adelaide 36ers.