The New Zealand Breakers came within just five points of pulling off an historic upset against the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns, led by this year's number one NBA Draft pick Deandre Ayton, beat the Breakers 91-86 in a sparsely populated Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix on Thursday (AEST) in the latest clash of the seven-game NBL-NBA exhibition series.
The Suns were considered the most vulnerable target of the visiting NBL squads seeking a win against a team from the world's best basketball league.
The Suns had the NBA's worst record last season and against the Breakers were without injured star guard Devin Booker who recently signed a $US158 million ($A222m) contract extension.
The Breakers scored the first basket of the game to take a 2-0 lead, but the Suns quickly took control and did just enough to maintain a buffer throughout.
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The Suns led 28-20 at the end of the first quarter and 52-42 at halftime.
In the final minute the Breakers, led by Auckland-born guard Corey Webster, cut the lead to four points.
The Suns' best was 216cm tall centre Ayton who had 21 points and 15 rebounds and former Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza with 16 points and six assists.
Webster had 27 points and seven assists for the Breakers while forward Tai Wesley added 15 points and seven rebounds.
The NBL-NBA series concludes on Friday (Saturday AEST) with Melbourne United up against the Toronto Raptors, Perth Wildcats play the Denver Nuggets and the Adelaide 36ers face the Utah Jazz.
The past week the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sydney Kings 110-91, the Jazz crushed the Wildcats 130-72 and Ben Simmons' Philadelphia 76ers cruised to a 104-84 win over Melbourne United.
