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TOWNSVILLE made 13 unlucky last night for the Wildcats in Perth in no uncertain terms.

Not only did they battle back from a demoralising belting by United on Wednesday in Melbourne, then from 5-24 and 8-28 down, doing it without sidelined centre Luke Schenscher. But the Crocs also were staring at a 54-61 deficit inside the last three minutes.

However after 12 straight losses in Perth, 13 was going to be the lucky one, Mitch Norton draining consecutive monster 3-pointers - the second after a key offensive rebound by Leon Henry - to bring Townsville within a point.

Perth's Mr Reliable, Matty Knight bustled and hustled his way to another basket but 63-60 was the end of the road offensively for the Wildcats.

Crocs captain Brian Conklin knocked down two free throws for 62-63 and when Perth's Greg Hire was unable to do the same, Townsville had the window it had hustled its butt off to create.

This time it was another unlikely hero in Henry who delivered the 3-point dagger for a 65-63 buffer and a final free throw for the 66-63 win.

The news was all great for the Crocs and all shocks for the Wildcats who head into Wollongong tomorrow to face Illawarra with Knight (shoulder) and Nathan Jawai, who played minimally after halftime with a leg injury, under clouds and last night's absentees Damian Martin and Casey Prather no certainties.

THE news was all bad for the Kings in Sydney too after Adelaide made a mockery of playing at Titanium Security Arena 24 hours earlier by taking them out 91-80 at the Kingdome.

Josh Childress' long-awaited return from a foot injury turned into a magnificent 18-point first-half Kings' tour de force by the NBA veteran.

But somewhere in the second quarter, he broke his right hand which meant he cooled appreciably to "only" finish with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists, a steal and four blocks.

It was a heroic effort but not one which sufficiently could inspire his Kingmates who steadily were worn away by the 36ers, led by an Adam Gibson (14 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds) who again has raised his game with the arrival of Jerome Randle.

Randle, who only arrived in Australia on Tuesday and played Thursday, admitted he was "dead" against Sydney but still mustered 16 points, Daniel Johnson again the lynchpin of the Sixers' offence.

Sydney was up and about when leading 18-6 but with Childress now again out for the foreseeable future, that future looks bleak, at best.

Tonight: The Taipans hit undefeated United in Melbourne, desperately needing to make an impression after falling in Adelaide. Melbourne smacked away the 36ers and embarrassed Townsville. Now with Perth beaten by those same Crocs, Melbourne will be relishing its unbeaten streak, shooter Chris Goulding celebrating his birthday in search of a big haul. United's inaugural MVP, Mark Worthington, makes his first trip "home" and is the key man to a Cairns upset. 

WORTHO IS BACK: But this time he's leading the Cairns Taipans drive for an upset.

Last night: 36ERS 91 (Johnson 19, Walker 17, Randle 16, Gibson 14, Ere 13; Johnson 9 rebs; Gibson 11 assts) d KINGS 80 (Childress 23, Khazzouh 17, Thornton 10; Khazzouh 8 rebs; Childress 5 assts) at The Kingdome, Sydney. CROCODILES 66 (Norton 20, Jett 10, 3 with 7; Kay 8 rebs; Jett 4 assts) d WILDCATS 63 (Knight 18, Jawai, Beal 9; Redhage 8 rebs; Redhage 5 assts) at The Jungle, Perth.