Cairns Taipans vs New Zealand Breakers NBL26 Round 13 Tips - Friday Night Lights Can’t Help Taipans Scoring

Ryan Tucker

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Fact Checked by Jeremy Darke

Last updated: Tue 16 Dec 2025 16:35

Ryan Tucker 16 Dec 2025

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Cairns Taipans vs New Zealand Breakers expert predictions for Friday’s Round 13 NBL matchup
Tip-off is at 7:30 PM AEDT at Cairns Convention Centre
New Zealand has won 7 straight in Cairns, showcasing dominance.
Taipans struggle with rebounding, hurting their performance.
Bet on Breakers; game pace suggests lower total points.

Cairns Taipans vs New Zealand Breakers NBL26 Round 13 Tips

Cairns Taipans vs New Zealand Breakers NBL25 Round 13 Expert Tips

A tight matchup is expected this Friday with New Zealand tipped to extend their win streak against Cairns to 8 straight.

Cairns Taipans vs New Zealand Breakers NBL25 Round 13 Expert Tips
Head to Head
Last 5 Match Results
Offensive & Defensive Rankings
Cairns Taipans Form & Team News
New Zealand Breakers Form & Team News
Cairns Taipans vs New Zealand Breakers Frequently Asked Questions

The Breakers have won 9 of the last 10 and 7 straight in Cairns against the lowly Taipans.

These teams met at the end of November in Cairns just before the International break, with NZ coming out victorious 102-96. Cairns started poorly in that game but came home with a wet sail while the Breakers were consistent through the game. Despite shooting just 28% from distance, they finished the game with a 53.8% FG% signalling a lot of easy inside shots.

The Taipans welcomed back Sam Waardenburg last weekend who played 24 minutes in his return but the output of only 8 points was not enough to help push his team to victory. They will need more out of their star forward if they are to match it with the tall bodies of the Breakers.

New Zealand dominated the paint in their previous matchup, 70% rate from 2pt range and outrebounded the Taipans 42-28. While the difference is not likely to be as large this time around there is a definite mismatch which the Breakers should once again try to exploit.

Take New Zealand to win and cover as the road favourite. Take the Game Total Under given the pace these teams have been playing at recently. Izaiah Brockington to grab 5+ boards and even ladders to 7+.

New Zealand have won 7 in a row both against Cairns and at the Cairns Convention Centre. They are the 3rd best rebounding team in the NBL.
Both teams are bottom 3 in pace since the International Break. Cairns are 10th in the league in scoring.
Cairns are the worst rebounding team in the league and were outrebounded 42-28 in the matchup back in November.
Izaiah Brockington has had 7+ rebounds in 2 of his last 4 games and took 11 last time these teams met.

Head to Head

Last 5 Match Results

Date	Home Team	Score	Line	Total Points
22/11/2025	CAI	NZB 102-96	NZB -3.0	O 175.0
01/02/2025	NZB	NZB 99-92	NZB +3.5	O 179.5
31/12/2024	CAI	NZB 92-68	NZB +7.0	U 180.0
16/11/2024	CAI	NZB 77-69	NZB -2.5	U 172.5
15/12/2023	CAI	NZB 111-82	NZB +4.5	O 175.0

Offensive & Defensive Rankings

CNS Off	Rank	Stat	Rank	NZB Def
81.3	10	PPG	5	88.3
39	9	RPG	3	41.1
42.8%	9	FG%	7	44.7%
33.3%	3	3P%	2	29.5%
12.8	8	TOV	4	11.8

CNS Def	Rank	Stat	Rank	NZB Off
94.4	8	PPG	7	88.8
44.7	10	RPG	3	43.9
45.3%	8	FG%	7	44.6%
29.0%	1	3P%	9	30.2%
7.9	10	TOV	6	12.4

Cairns Taipans Form & Team News

Cairns fans could have been forgiven for having hope last weekend. Fresh off a 93-76 victory over the Hawks, they came out and dusted the JackJumpers in the first quarter of their Round 12 game 21-13.

Then the wheels fell off, outscored 24-18 in the second quarter and only a combined 29 pts total in the 2nd half left the team reeling in front of their home fans. Even the return of Sam Waardenburg couldn’t help the offence to fire.

They are already the team taking the fewest field goal attempts per game (68.5) but managed just 58 in the loss to Tassie, a game that like many others was within 2pts in the 4th quarter before defence and shotmaking decisions completely eluded all on court.

New Zealand Breakers Form & Team News

The Breakers took a trip to regional Victoria last weekend to play the Phoenix and left with another loss 92-80. Sam Mennenga got into early foul trouble and was restricted to just 24 minutes on the night while the team shot just 37.5% from the field.

New Zealand had another poor outing scoring wise, sinking only 5 of 24 from deep in the game. PJC went 0-5 but did top score for the team together with Rob Baker with 16 pts.

A very real trend has emerged over the past few weeks for the Breakers, when the scoring is working, they are in the 90’s or 100’s and win well. When the shots aren’t falling, the whole offence collapses and they barely make 80.