Basketball On The Internet.

REIGNING Ignite Cup champion New Zealand last night showed how much it enjoyed winning the NBL's richest prize in 2026 by staking a claim for its expanded 2027 version with a clean sweep points spread over hapless Cairns, Breakers import Parker Jackson-Cartwright leading the rout.

PJC was at his most ruthless, pairing a game-high 27 points at 56 per cent (5-of-8 threes in there too) with 10 assists as NZ won all four quarters to claim the maximum seven points available (One per quarter won, three for the overall win.)

When Jackson-Cartwright is knocking down threes, there is no way to play him with single coverage.

Sam Mennenga's 18-point, 9-rebound double was as significant as his ongoing unhappy dialogue with the officiating trio and Mojave King and Carlin Davison both were excellent contributors off the bench.

Davison boasted the best dunk of the Ignite Cup's first round, at least until Torrey Craig slammed down an equally memorable one as Sydney routed Brisbane later in the evening.

The Bullets' first real test of the season saw them away from home and facing a quality team in the defending champion. What a start. Brisbane had shots dropping and its defence holding up as it raced to a 34-23 lead at the first break.

Jaylin Williams was having his best outing of the season so far, and Bullets fans had every right to feel satisfied with what Will Weaver's team was delivering.

And then Sydney metaphorically said: "Thats enough."

Brian Goorjian's team turned up the defensive screws, Brisbane's Lithuanian playmaker Arnas Velicka the victim of the type of sustained defensive pressure to which Bryce Cotton regularly is subjected by the Kings.

First Matthew Dellavedova's suffocating hold-and-hug, then Makuach Maluach's athleticism, then Craig's length and experience, and somewhere in between, time for Kendric Davis to harass him too.

Davis tickled a rare quadruple double with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 9 flops ... seriously, throwing back his head, collapsing to the floor, sniper-shot from the stands, his antics are beneath a player who claims to want to be the "man" of the NBL.

That said, he was unstoppable, Maluach enjoying more extended minutes and with 19 points at 67 per cent.

The Bullets battled gamely and were far from disgraced. But a 34-point quarter and 44 for the next three spoke volumes for how well the Kings played D and how successfully they disrupted the flow of Brisbane's offence.

Ignite Cup Results

New Zealand Breakers 98 (Jackson-Cartwright 27, Mennenga 18, King 14; Mennenga 9 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 10 assts) d Cairns Taipans 75 (J.McVeigh 16, Lewis 11, Smith 10; Pinder 7 rebs; Lewis, J.McVeigh 3 assts) at Spark Arena. Qtr-By-Qtr: 19-18, 23-17, 30-25, 26-15. Cup Pts: New Zealand 7, Cairns 0

Sydney Kings 93 (Davis 24, Maluach 19, Cooks, Carr 12, Craig 10; Davis 8 rebs; Davis 7 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 78 (Williams 19, Velicka 15, Hinton 13; Williams 8 rebs; Velicka 5 assts) at Afterpay Arena. Qtr-By-Qtr: 23-34, 20-10, 29-14, 21-20. Cup Pts: Sydney 6, Brisbane 1