It had to happen eventually. When the NZ Breakers reached for the familiar Get-Out-of-Jail card tonight, it just wasn't there.

But the runaway NBL leaders sure did some digging for it as they came within an ace (or at least a bad ref's bailout on Adam Gibson) of overturning a 21-point final-quarter deficit against the Gold Coast Blaze, going down 94-91 in another barnburner between these two teams.

Following up on Sunday's double-overtime thriller on the Gold Coast (won 123-115 by the Kiwi club), this was some rematch. Especially when a lethargic Breakers outfit finally came to life in that final quarter.

Closing that massive deficit (the Blaze led 81-60 two minutes into the final period) all the way up when they levelled at 91-91 on the back of four straight CJ Bruton free-throws, the Breakers found life late, and very nearly pulled off their most sensational comeback of the season.

But in the end the bounce, and the calls, went the Blaze's way, with Bruton and Gary Wilkinson both missing key late shots and Gibson getting a dodgy call his way on a drive with the scores tied and 12 seconds left.

The loss ends the Breakers' winning streak at eight and was just their second home defeat of the season as they drop to 18-4.

The stirring comeback apart, the loss continued to raise some serious questions about the Breakers' title credentials, mainly around defence and interior defence.

For most of the match they were badly exposed by a side prepared to take it to them inside, with Blaze centre Ira Clark (22 points/11 rebounds) torching the Breakers big men with a succession of moves that made him look a bit more like Dwight Howard than he ought to.

Do we care? It's a week when, really, sport in New Zealand just doesn't seem to mean as much. But still the Breakers have some serious business to take care of, and they surely can't continue to rely on these late comebacks when it gets serious at playoff time.

Credit to the Blaze, though, the Gold Coasters bouncing back well from Sunday's heartbreaker to keep their playoff hopes alive at 11-12 for the season. Clark led the show but had able support from Chris Goulding (21 points), James Harvey (17) and Adam Gibson (13 and four assists).

Gibson's defensive job on Kirk Penney was also a key factor, the Kiwi sharpshooter never able to get going like he was on Sunday as he was held to 21 points on six-of-16 shooting. Bruton and Wilkinson both added 17 points, with Bruton's late free-throws especially crucial, while Mika Vukona was a big part of the comeback and finished with a high-energy 13 points and 12 boards.

After a minute's silence pre-tipoff to honour the victims of Christchurch's devastating earthquake, the Breakers came out and played the first half like they were still in mourning.  It was their third game inside a week, and it looked it.

Given their woeful defence, ordinary shot selection and tendency to give up fast-break layups, the home side was probably lucky to be down just 10 (46-56) at the break.

It was a lead the Blaze deserved, shooting 62 per cent from the field, and continuing to get Clark (14 points) and Harvey (10) good looks, while Goulding ran the lanes hard and was rewarded with 14 on a perfect six-of-six shooting.

Once again the Breakers were awful defending the interior (giving up 34 points in the paint) and when their own shooting was off the mark (13-for-35) struggled to keep pace with the visitors. It wasn't a good sign either when the Blaze bench outscored their hosts 22-15 for the opening 20.

The goodish crowd of around 3000 waited for the trademark comeback over the run home, and had their patience tested before it finally came. The Blaze stretched it out to 18 by the end of the third quarter and 21 early, before a contest finally broke out.

The Breakers now travel to the Wollongong Hawks on Sunday looking for some spring that just wasn't in their step tonight.

NZ Breakers 91 (Kirk Penney 21, Gary Wilkinson 17, CJ Bruton 17, Mika Vukona 13, Tom Abercrombie 10).

Gold Coast Blaze 94 (Ira Clark 23, Chris Goulding 21, James Harvey 17, Adam Gibson13, ).

1Q: 24-29; HT: 46-56; 3Q: 58-76.

- Stuff