Basketball On The Internet.

IF you're not a dyed-in-the-wool Sydney Kings fan or apologist, it becomes increasingly difficult to like Kendric Davis, a petulant flopping sook who likes to play the victim, even after Adelaide has strategically used Matt Kenyon to curtail his influence and underpin a 36ers road upset.

In what easily was Kenyon's best game as a 36er and possibly his best NBL game generally, the 196cm off-guard spent 18:05 of court-time frustrating and harassing Davis while teaming 11 points with eight rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.

A "leave him open" option in most opposition defensive strategies, Kenyon stuck 3-of-3 3-pointers and pointedly passed up a couple of others he could have jacked, in favour of running the clock and contributing inestimably to Adelaide's road win.

It wasn't a lone job by Kenyon, Keanu Rasmussen also harassing the reigning championship MVP, who constantly found himself running into double and even triple-teams.

This was a Trevor Gleeson coaching masterclass, Davis needing to battle hard to finish with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting, 1-of-8 threes, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 turnovers.

Adelaide's superstar Bryce Cotton - who clearly lives rent free in Davis' befuddled mind - posted similar numbers with 17 points on 6-of-20 shooting, 4-of-13 threes, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers.

While their final stats were similar, Cotton was the more effective, his steal from Davis in the final half minute, Adelaide clearly about to win, setting off the Kings' little wannabe.

As Cotton dribbled the ball toward the sideline to use up valuable time, Davis made a beeline straight for him, deliberately bumping into him, just 26.3 seconds left to play.

That set off a chain (over)reaction as players milled and tussled about, Davis wandering away as if he had achieved something important, clapping madly to himself. Then came the tugging at his uniform to highlight last season's championship logo to which Cotton reacted by signalling six fingers, indicating his six MVP awards.

(If he had shown three fingers - as if to indicate championships he has won, that no doubt would have gone over Davis' head).

Once again Davis' boneheaded antics successfully overshadowed the contest and those fans, commentators and scribes describing his behaviour as "great for the game" need their heads examined.

Down Flynn Cameron and Isaac Humphries and coming in off an ugly home loss to Melbourne, the 36ers were ripe for the picking but clearly Sydney made no allowance for the fact Gleeson would have a gameplan.

Both sides shot poorly to open the match but Xavier Cooks was a constant thorn, his 22 points at 73 per cent and accompanied by eight rebounds. His three assists included a gem for Makuach Maluach who accommodated the pass with a fast break slam dunk.

For the 36ers, Nick Rakocevic (16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) continued to flourish and Zylan Cheatham threw off his recent funk with a 10-point, 10-rebound double double.

But it was John Jenkins (20 points, 7-of-18 shooting, 6-of-17 threes) who found the mark often enough to ease Adelaide to the buffer it needed to stave off the fast-finishing Kings.

Over in Wollongong, the Hawks needed to show more for their supportive fanbase than the soft performance they staged earlier in the round against Tasmania.

But Cairns was having none of it, Jack McVeigh en route to 32 points at 71 per cent as the Taipans continued to build on a season which has turned around since playmaker Jaylon Brown found his form against United.

Jonah Bolden (20 points at 78 per cent, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks) has grown with every outing, Cairns polishing their team game and ball movement against an Illawarra team again phoning it in at the defensive end.

The Taipans had the lead out to 17 in the second quarter as Milton Doyle was pointless (0-of-5, all threes), Tyler Harvey played just 19 minutes for his 11 points, the Hawks basically rudderless but, as has often been the case, briefly buoyed by the energy of Dan Grida and Kyle Adnam.

Sam Froling (16 and 12) and Makur Maker (18 and 9) had their moments and Lamar Patterson was value off the bench.

Just as it did against Tasmania, the 10-point final margin flattered Illawarra which suffers from a lack of on-court leadership, direction and willingness to work at the defensive side of the court.

Round 4 Results, Sunday

Adelaide 36ers 84 (Jenkins 20, Cotton 17, Rakocevic 16, Kenyon 11, Cheatham 10; Cheatham 10 rebs; Cotton 8 assts) d Sydney Kings 78 (Cooks 22, Davis 16, Maluach 12; Cooks, Craig 8 rebs; Davis 7 assts) at Afterpay Arena.

Cairns Taipans 110 (McVeigh 32, Bolden 20, Pinder 19, Smith, Brown 14; Bolden 8 rebs; Brown 9 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 100 (Maker 18, Froling 16, Hickey 13, Patterson, Swaka Lo Buluk, Harvey 11; Froling 12 rebs; Doyle 5 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre.