Henry stole the limelight from teenager Lamelo Ball, whose second successive triple-double helped Illawarra Hawks reduce a 22-point deficit to just two points before the Breakers prevailed 91-79 in Auckland.

Henry's powerhouse final quarter featured 15 of his 25 points and two huge defensive plays on Ball.

The 32-year-old stepped up in the absence of Corey Webster, who joined fellow-shooting guard Scotty Hopson and centre Rob Loe on the injured list last week.

It was hoped Webster and Hopson might both recover for Saturday's fixture but when they didn't, it left the Kiwi club searching for scorers in their bid to break a five-game losing streak.

"I feel that's been building for him. He's a world class scorer and tonight it all came out," Abercrombie said.

"Really happy for Sek because I know he's been working behind the scenes to try and get on track. Hopefully this is the start of something special for him."

Abercrombie said the fight shown when Illawarra surged late illustrated they aren't the shambolic team some have suggested in the wake of a spate of off-court incidents.

Victory left the Hawks (3-9) propping up the table and Henry is adamant the Breakers (3-8) won't find themselves there again.

He wants more committed defensive showings against the two teams directly above them - away to Cairns on Friday and home to Brisbane the following Monday.

"We have so many weapons, we have so much talent and we're a lot better than our record," Henry said.

"We played some defence today. That's a great thing, we got some stops and that's why we got the win. Now we've got to win on the road."

Australian Associated Press