(Daniel Eade is a BPL contributor and freelance journalist)

The Melbourne Tigers had the fluency, pulse and sense of urgency that had been missing so far this season, but still went down to the New Zealand Breakers by five points on Friday night.

Imports TJ Campbell (18 points, 4 assists) and Eric Devendorf (16 points), both under the microscope after a pair of very poor performances, played with purpose, impressing with their ability to attack the defence and find the basket.

But at the end of the game the Tigers still lost. They could've, should've, but ultimately didn't, win. The Tigers falling to their third consecutive defeat after the Breakers rode a 25-point night from CJ Bruton (7/13 triples) to an 84-79 victory.

The Tigers were left to regret a sluggish opening to the final quarter, seeing a four-point lead evaporate into a four-point deficit inside the first three-and-a-half minutes, starting with Breakers' point guard Bruton nailing a triple off the first offensive rebound of the quarter.

The Tigers found it easier to get through the full-court pressure the Breakers applied during the contest, especially when compared to the troubles the Tigers had with the tenacity of the Perth Wildcats defence last Sunday, and even to a lesser extent the hassling the Sydney Kings clamped on them in the season opener.

The Breakers defence was not as tenacious as the Wildcats, nor as unforgiving, and despite the Tigers making a few hiccups with the ball early on, their ability to navigate the ball up the court was an improvement on the serious problem we've seen this season.

Melbourne did still commit 17 turnovers, down from the 31 they threw away against the Wildcats, but still too many blemishes for a 40-minute game.

Unforgivable was the fact that Melbourne were out-rebounded for the third consecutive game (Breakers 37-32), and with the game on the line, the Tigers gave up three consecutive offensive rebounds in the final minute and allowed the Breakers to control the ball for 65 seconds until they were forced to foul Bruton with only 14 seconds to play. Bruton's ensuing free-throws sealed the game.

Even without the injured Matt Burston, Melbourne still had Luke Nevill, Wade Helliwell and Cameron Tragardh, meaning rebounding should not have been the serious issue for the Tigers. But it was.

Melbourne entered the game with just seven fit players and an emergency room full of injuries. Burston was ruled out on Wednesday with an injured knee, Tommy Greer (shoulder) and Lucas Walker (knee) also missing, forcing the Tigers to call on development players Yusuf Qaafow and Bo Westover.

A worry for the Tigers is the 10-day break they now have before facing the Wollongong Hawks at home on Sunday evening. After showing promising signs, the Tigers would have preferred to have another game this weekend to build on whatever momentum they may now have.

The Tigers have dug themselves a huge hole to open the season, not insurmountable, but still very difficult to not only win, but to fight back and get themselves in contention with the top four.

But at least for the moment they have given the possibility of hope.