Basketball On The Internet.

MOJAVE King was king of the court last night in Cairns, the Next Star showing he actually is a Right Now star, banging in a career-best 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting to keep the Taipans competitive against a defending NBL champion which now is on a roll that would be scaring the rest of the league. 

Despite the Taipans' best efforts to keep Illawarra from pulling away, the final 107-90 result was all but inevitable, Cairns' best efforts to contain Javale McGee largely ineffective.

McGee and William "Davo" Hickey, who needed a club intervention this week to get on the same page, were assuredly there, building on their obvious partnership midweek when accounting for league leader Melbourne.

Last night McGee had 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting, including another cheeky 2-of-3 from outside the 3-point arc, plus a couple of slick assists. Cairns' zone didn't work and neither did its double and even triple teams.

Hickey produced the first triple-double of the season with his 19 points at 57 per cent, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. He also had three athletic blocks, two on Jack McVeigh shots and one on Marcus Lee.

But it was his understanding with McGee, which was evident in Wednesday's Ignite Cup win over United, that has to now be sending shivers across the NBL.

Not to mention the fact QJ Peterson, also a willing passer to McGee, hit 4-of-6 threes in his 22 points at 64 per cent, almost making the regular heroics of Tyler Harvey now largely unnecessary.

Mason Peatling (14 points at 75 per cent, 4 assists) also flourished and it was a credit to Cairns that it fought this out and was only behind 48-52 at haftime.

Andrew Andrews was sharing the ball, McVeigh tickled a triple-double with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists and Kyrin Galloway (15 points at 55 percent, 7 rebounds) produced a stronger game.

But it was King, almost the forgotten man brought in to replace the injured Alex Higgins-Titsha, who had the Orange Army grinning as he splashed 6-of-8 threes to offer hope for what is yet to come for the Snakes.

Round 8

Illawarra Hawks 107 (McGee 37, Hickey 18, Harvey 17, Swaka Lo Buluk 14, Peterson 11, Peatling 10; McGee 14 rebs; Peterson, Hickey 7 assts) d Melbourne United 93 (Delany 21, Edwards 19, Doyle 16, Walker 14; Krslovic, Edwards 6 rebs; Doyle 11 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 3,012 Q-Q: 32-22, 25-21, 22-25, 28-25. Ignite Cup Pts: Illawarra 6, Melbourne 1

Adelaide 36ers 83 (Cotton 23, Cameron, Cheatham 13, White 12; Cameron, Cheatham 8 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 79 (Brockington 25, Jackson-Cartwright 21, Lopez 11; Baker 9 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 10 assts) at The Breakwater, Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch. Crowd: 3,859

South East Melbourne Phoenix 103 (Sobey 28, Lewis 23, Foxwell 15, Iwundu 11, Brown 10; Brown 14 rebs; Foxwell, Lewis, Sobey 4 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 102 (Hamilton 36, Deng 17, Bannan 15; Bannan 10 rebs; Hamilton 5 assts) at the SilverJinx, Launceston, Crowd: N/a 

Illawarra Hawks 107 (McGee 28, Peterson 22, Hickey 19, Peatling 14, Harvey 11; Hickey 12 rebs; Hickey 12 assts) d Cairns Taipans 90 (King 32, Galloway 15, McVeigh 13, Schofield 11, Andrews 10; McVeigh 8 rebs; McVeigh, Andrews 8 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 4,025