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IT was a basic case of "addition by subtraction" as Illawarra farewelled Jaquori McLaughlin and played its best game of the season, while Brian Goorjian showed he hasn't lost his coaching chops, producing his finest performance since returning to Sydney, masterminding a thorough 103-79 rout in Adelaide.

A record crowd of 10,021 around Brett Maher Court watched the Kings unleash their biggest win over the 36ers, leading from start-to-finish and never genuinely threatened.

The Kings' defence was exemplary and resembled those hard-nosed teams the "old Goorj" - or was it the "young Goorj"? - routinely assembled to wreak havoc, the 36ers clueless how to deal with his strategies.

The build-up of the "return of Kendric Davis to Adelaide" had a far great effect on the home team as the Kings set about their business from the get-go. And their business was about winning.

Goorjian's men, starting with Matthew Dellavedova and ending with Bul Kuol - not to mention Jaylin Galloway and Makuach Maluach in between - harassed Bryce Cotton from go-to-whoa, putting him through a private hell that saw him score a season-low seven points on a mostly rushed 3-of-10 shooting.

Unsurprisingly, Adelaide coach Mike Wells had no answers and even compounded his problems with a wayward subsitution pattern that once again had four guards on together on several occasions, trying to play the small-ball style of which Sydney is the master!

Yes, Isaac Humphries collected two very soft early fouls, which did not help, but to then only play him for 17:32 - for 13 points at 75 per cent - while gifting Matt Kenyon 18:32 showed Wells was clutching at straws. (And one day Kenyon may realise why defences leave him open to shoot in the corners.)

His unsportsmanlike foul when the 36ers had grafted back to 51-60 ended up costing four points. A  Kings stop then and another bucket meant from having a mere sliver of hope, the 36ers were down 51-66 and in the outhouse again.

Meanwhile Kouat Noi had four 3-point makes in his spectacular game-high 29-point haul and Davis overcame some early foul grief for 22 as Goorjian extracted the maximum from his singleminded outfit.

When Xavier Cooks swishes 2-of-2 free throws you know this unit is completely focused, Tim Soares with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 12 boards, Kuol actually playing defence instead of the usual whiny BS he has been guilty of for the past two years.

Flynn Cameron worked hard for his 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists and Zylan Cheatham rose to the clouds producing two of the best blocked shots you could ever hope to see.

Beyond that, the fears about Adelaide - it doesn't play real D and its coach has no Plan B - were brutally exposed by an A-Team.

In Wollongong, the Hawks started so powerfully over Brisbane that the Bullets initially were battered 22-2, Casey Prather finally breaking Illawarra's 8-0 start before another 14-0 rampage by the home team.

Starting at the point, Tyler Harvey was sharing the ball in a manner foreign to his form this season but wonderful for his teammates as Mason Peatling, Todd Blanchfield, Jonah Bolden, Javale McGee and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk all thrived.

Harvey had six assists by the first quarter break at which time Illawarra led 34-18 and was never going to be caught by the floundering coach-by-committee Bullets.

Tyrell Harrison was intimidated and completely psyched out by McGee and it largely was left to Prather to carry the day. 

The Hawks were fierce from the tip and never relented, even having the opportunity to enjoy deep benchman Johny Narkle scoring and soaring in a prolonged rout.

Harvey finished on a career-best 10 assists with his 22 points as Illawarra ran hard all night and looked more like a team defending the championship, Biwali Bayles also enjoying his greater responsibilities now the Hawks have pulled the trigger on McLaughlin. 

Round 4 (Includes Ignite Cup)

New Zealand Breakers 117 (Mennenga, Jackson-Cartwright 20, Te Rangi 18, Lopez 16, Brockington 14, Davison 12; Lopez 9 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 17 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 88 (Harvey 22, McGee 19, Peatling 14, Swaka Lo Buluk 10; Blanchfield 8 rebs; Harvey 6 assts) at The Breakdance, Spark Arena. Crowd: 3,101. Q-Q: 30-24, 30-25, 27-23, 30-16. Ignite Cup Pts: New Zealand 7, Illawarra 0

Melbourne United 107 (Walker 27, Edwards 22, Doyle 16, Krebs 15; Edwards 12 rebs; Doyle 6 assts) d Sydney Kings 93 (Cooks, Davis 21, Galloway, Dellavedova 12; Cooks 10 rebs; Dellavedova 7 assts) at the Kingdome, Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 9,528. Q-Q: 29-25, 21-27, 31-19, 26-22. Ignite Cup Pts: Melbourne 6, Sydney 1

Adelaide 36ers 98 (Cotton 29, Humphries 24, Vasiljevic 13, Cameron 12; Cheatham 9 rebs; Cotton 9 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 89 (Hamilton 22, Magnay 17, Bannan 14; Marshall, Magnay 6 rebs; Hamilton 9 assts) at Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,320

Perth Wildcats 80 (Lual-Acuil 30, Windler 26, Jones 8; Windler 11 rebs; Windler, Russo-Nance 3 assts) d Cairns Taipans 77 (Andrews 21, Schofield 16, Lee 12, Smith 11; Lee 12 rebs; McVeigh 6 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: N/a

Illawarra Hawks 116 (Harvey 22, McGee, Peatling, Blanchfield 13, Bayles, Swaka Lo Buluk 12, Bolden 11; McGee 12 rebs; Harvey 10 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 89 (Prather 28, Patterson 17, Adams 13, Smith-Milner 11; Prather 9 rebs; Patterson 5 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 4,709

Sydney Kings 103 (Noi 29, Davis 22, Soares 14, Cooks 12; Soares 12 rebs; Dellavedova 7 assts) d Adelaide 36ers 79 (Cameron 15, Vasiljevic 14, Humphries 13; Cameron, Cheatham 8 rebs; 7 assts) on Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 10,021