The Melbourne Tigers have completed a 2-0 semi-final sweep over the Cairns Taipans with a comprehensive 95-87 win at the Cairns Convention Centre on Friday.

The reigning NBL Champions built on a dominant 33-16 first quarter to post their highest first-half total of the season (66), enough to hold off a 25-15 fourth-quarter surge from the hosts to earn the right to defend their crown against the Brisbane Bullets.

The first game of the five-game Philips NBL Finals series commences on March 2 in Brisbane, where the Tigers will look to end the Bullets' record winning streak.

The Tigers showed their superior team depth with six players reaching double-figures, Chris Anstey leading the charge with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Anstey received valuable support with 15 points apiece from Rashad Tucker (12 rebounds), Daryl Corletto (3-of-6 three-pointers) and Stephen Hoare (5-of-7 field goals).

Darnell Mee continued his superb finals form with a game-high 23 points and seven assists to lead Cairns, while Martin Cattalini added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Aaron Grabau toiled for his 14 points.

Melbourne edged the hosts in shooting percentage at 44 per cent (38-of-86) to 41 per cent (30-of-74), but the visitor's dominant first-half 57 per cent shooting (26-of-46) eclipsed Cairns' effort of 42 per cent (16-of-38) to set up a sizeable margin.

Tigers head coach Alan Westover said his side's road win would be an important part of their finals campaign preparation.

"To win a championship you have to be able to show you can beat good teams on the road," Westover said.

"We thought if we could get this one here you can't get any better preparation, as we'll have to come out and play (in) Brisbane on Friday," he said.

"We're just thrilled to get the win. You come to Cairns, they're a tough team and a very talented team, and with crowd here we were fortunate to get the jump on them early."

Cairns Taipans mentor Alan Black conceded that his players were beaten by a better team, but praised his side for their competitiveness even when behind by 20 points.

"All series they've (the Tigers) made the plays when they needed them, and tonight was no exception," Black said.

"They're an exceptional team; under Westover they haven't lost a playoff game," he said.

"It would have been very easy to shut up shop and lose by a lot… it was just unfortunate that we couldn't get it closer and make a real stab at it in the end."

Melbourne drew first blood with an 8-0 scoring run to open the second game of the semi-final series, Rashad Tucker finding his way inside for a pair of easy lay-ups.

Baskets remained few and far between for the hosts in the first six minutes, Cattalini the only Taipan on the scoreboard as the Tigers built a handy 10-2 advantage.

Former Taipan Nathan Crosswell entered the fray to contribute 10 points late in the quarter, while consecutive triples from Corletto completed a first-quarter 33-16 walkover.

Cairns returned to the court with renewed vigor in the second stanza, grinding out the first five points of the second term including a Grabau three-point play that ignited the packed home crowd.

But the defending champions answered the challenge and matched the fired-up home side with superb long-range shooting, finishing the half ahead 66-45 in their highest-scoring first half of the season.

The visitors' dominance on the glass ensured the home side would not make any significant difference to their deficit in a low-scoring third quarter.

With import centre Kevin Owens in foul trouble, Cairns looked inside to Damon Thornton, but the tallest team in the league maintained a commanding 80-62 lead heading into the final term.

An 8-0 scoring run combined with consecutive defensive stops cut Cairns' deficit to 10 points in less than four minutes after the final break, with back-up big man Matt Smith (8 points, 7 rebounds in 20 minutes) proving an imposing defensive presence for the hosts in a remarkable final-quarter battle.

However the home crowd was quickly hushed by Melbourne, whose starters resumed control of the game and pushed their score difference back out to 18 with an 11-0 run of their own.

Mee refused to let the North Queenslanders' season finish without a fight, inspiring his side at both ends of the court to again challenge Melbourne with 12 unanswered points, a streak to which each Taipans player on the court contributed.

However it was too little too late for the Taipans, eventually falling short in a thrilling final quarter.

Melbourne Tigers 95 (Anstey 16, Tucker, Corletto, Hoare 15)
Cairns Taipans 87 (Mee 23, Cattalini 17, Grabau 14)
@ Cairns Convention Centre, 23/02/07.
Melbourne Tigers win semi-final series 2-0.