There's a reason the Melbourne Tigers are still kicking themselves over the early Christmas present they handed the NZ Breakers. It goes by the name of Daryl Corletto.

At the time it seemed strange that the Tigers had jettisoned a 10-year stalwart like Corletto to squeeze in Patty Mills for what was always going to be a short-term stint.

But the Breakers weren't complaining as they snapped up the heady shooting guard to fill a void caused by the suspension of Corey Webster.

Corletto lit up in Santa lights tonight what a dumb move that was from the Tigers, and what a smart one it was by the Breakers.

The 30-year-old doesn't have explosive speed, or special hops. But he's smart, he's efficient and he's a hell of a shooter, and that combination was deadly for the Breakers as they dispatched the Cairns Taipans 85-65 to advance their league-best record to 10-3.

Corletto finished a special night with a career-high 26 points, going eight-of-11 from the floor and six-of-eight from deep as he provided all the early impetus for another impressive performance from the Kiwi champions of Australia.

Import point guard Cedric Jackson was the other star of the Break-show, the lightning quick American finishing with 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals. His scintillating 10 straight points to open the final quarter put the game on ice.

Gary Wilkinson added a quiet 13 points for the Kiwi club, Alex Pledger had 10 rebounds and Mika Vukona added eight points, six boards and three assists. The only slightly disappointing aspect was another off night for Thomas Abercrombie who was kept to just seven points on one-for-eight shooting.

The Breakers also played some great defence, keeping the Taipans to just 37 per cent shooting and containing their star import pairing to a combined 29 points. Once again they thumped their opponents on the boards (42-28), dominated points in the paint (32-20) and shot a spectacular 92 per cent from the line.

It was another poor night for the Taipans at a venue that hasn't been kind to them of late. They sunk to their eighth straight defeat at the NSEC to cool off a run that had seen them win four of their previous five.

For the defending champs it was a fifth straight victory as they head into a tricky run of road games at Perth, Cairns and Melbourne over the holiday period, and a great Christmas present for a sell-out crowd just a tick under 4000 also splits the season series against last season's grand finals opponent.

Corletto had played a near perfect first half, notching 21 points via some typically precision shooting. He made five of his seven three-point attempts, was six-for-eight overall and a perfect four-of-four from the line.

To their credit his team-mates found him on a pretty consistent basis as he snuck free for 10 points in the first quarter and 11 in the second as the Breakers expanded a 21-16 lead at the first break into a decisive 47-33 edge at halftime.

After an 11-9 third quarter in the visitors' favour, Jackson's burst early in the fourth put the issue beyond doubt.

NZ Breakers 85 ( Daryl Corletto 26, Cedric Jackson 18, Gary Wilkinson 13), Cairns Taipans 65 (Andrew Warren 18, Alex Loughton 13,  Jamar Wilson 11). 1Q: 21-16; HT: 47-33; 3Q: 56-44.