Basketball On The Internet.

DAVID Johnson set his own milestone last night as part of a record Tasmania haul of 122 points, the JackJumpers swarming all over Illawarra for a 10-point win that bore no resemblance to the actual manner in which the Hawks were humiliated for large portions of the contest.

Displaying an NBL championship brand of basketball - while still down injured Majok Deng, Anthony Drmic, Ben Ayre and Bryce Hamilton - the Jackies moved the ball with such precision and offensive fluidity that the game resembled a video clinic of how to play basketball.

Illawarra's defence, which would have embarrassed road cones, was simply overwhelmed by Tassie shooting the ball at 72 per cent in a first half which saw it run up 67 points.

Josh Bannan (25 points at 59 per cent, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) was hitting threes, Will Magnay (14 points at 100 per cent, 6-of-8 free throws) snatched nine rebounds while dishing eight assists to almost produce a triple-double, Ben Gold was torching the Hawks from range, Taran Armstrong running rampant.

Building on a 35-point first quarter, the rampant Ants were everywhere. And just for good measure, import scorer Dakota Mathias lasted only 9:03 in this game before Kelan Martin barrelled into him and again bloodied his nose.

Cleaned up in the face by Josh Oduro in the United game, Mathias copping a second dose was super bad luck and he looked much the worse for wear as he was escorted out of the ballgame.

Martin (23 points at 64 per cent) was the only player consistently scoring for Illawarra which, by early in the second period, even had conscientious objectors lamenting its lack of defensive resistance, Tasmania ahead by 22.

Enter Dan Grida and the athletic young man with the crazed mullet and the never-say-die attitude ignited a most amazing comeback with his energy and enthusiasm, characteristics hardly evident in his more highly-rated teammates.

But again, the JJs had the answers. Johnson was mercurial. He finished the game with 32 points on 9-of-10 shooting, with 5-of-6 threeballs in 17:39. And the only reason he played so little time was because he (foolishly) fouled out, making a couple of decisions he probably would regret today.

Nonetheless he created history as the only player in NBL history to record a 30-plus point game in less than 21 minutes of actual action.

Illawarra managed to outscore Tasmania in the second half and by scoring 112 points, probably walked away thinking that score would have won a lot of games. 

But the truth is it was Grida again who inspired the Hawks, Kyle Adnam had 11 points in 9:02, Will Hickey 21 points at 75 per cent, as the JJs figuratively put the cue in the rack, allowing the final scoreline to look a much closer contest than it ever was.

Round 4 Results, Friday

Townsville JackJumpers 122 (Johnson 32, Bannan 25, Armstrong 17, Magnay, Gold 14; Magnay 9 rebs; Magnay 8 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 112 (Martin 23, Hickey 21, Doyle 20, Froling 12, Adnam 11; Maker, Swaka Lo Buluk, Froling, Martin 4 rebs; Hickey 4 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre.