Basketball On The Internet.

JACK McVeigh today produced an NBL career-high 39 points for Cairns but was trumped by Bryce Cotton's 41 as Adelaide staved off the Taipans in overtime, Sydney demolishing Illawarra, Melbourne holding off Brisbane and Perth rolling away from New Zealand in the upshot of Round 9.

The NBL debut of new 36ers forward Troy Brown Jr almost ended in a fairytale win for the struggling Taipans who are still down Sam Waardenburg but also had Reyne Smith, Alex Higgins-Titsha, Kyle Adnam and Kody Stattmann on the injury sidelines.

Given the circumstances and with imports Admiral Schofield and Andrew Andrews both fouling out, the former in 20:29, the latter in overtime with seven points on 2-of-14 shooting, eight assists but seven turnovers, it was largely McVeigh, Mojave King, Marcus Lee and Kyrin Galloway who kept the Snakes alive.

Cotton provided Adelaide with its offensive foundation, Isaac Humphries (18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks) also completing several big plays, Zylan Cheatham (16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) solid as always and Brown with some encouraging moments glimpsing what is to come.

But Mike Wells' intoxication and belief in Matt Kenyon as a defender largely was put to the sword. Wells had him on McVeigh who had a CAREER HIGH and when Cairns ran a pick-and-roll and the 36ers switched, he simply shot over Isaac White.

Again, Wells' rotations kept the door ajar for Cairns, Adelaide bungling its last play in regulation after a Lee free throw made it 91-91.

Humphries stood up in the five-minute extension, his slick reverse basket with 15 seconds left off a Cheatham tap over made it 104-99 and out of Cairns' reach.

In Wollongong, Sydney steadily pulled away from Illawarra's reach with a defensive clinic, containing the increasingly frustrated Hawks to paltry quarter returns of 14, 18, 18 and 21 for a grand total of 71.

Missing Matthew Dellavedova (ill) and Shaun Bruce (injured), the Kings were surprisingly well-organised on-court by Kendric Davis (17 points, 8 assists) and Tyler Robertson and took the initiative from tip-off.

Its defensive strategies to counter Hawks star centre Javale McGee (9 points, 9 rebounds, 4 turnovers, fouled out) worked, with Xavier Cooks and Tim Soares the main beneficiaries.

But Bul Kuol (12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals) also came up trumps, Sydney coach Brian Goorjian recording his biggest ever win over Illawarra.

The two unsung heroes who provided so much more than expected off his bench were Robertson and Hunter Goodrick, both with career highs in points (14 and 8 respectively), the latter also annoying McGee.

Robertson's 3-point marksmanship was to the fore as he stuck 4-of-7, Sydney in total control.

For the Hawks, "Davo" Hickey (19 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) tickled a triple-double but again played as though he was chomping the angry pills, while Tyler Harvey (18 points, 5-of-13) was often too busy playing for calls and whining when they did not eventuate.

In Melbourne, Milton Doyle was enjoying a shooting extravaganza for United against Brisbane, his 28 points coming at 61 per cent.

United's confidence and professionalism was to the fore as it cruised 21 points clear at 68-47 on a Jesse Edwards dunk late in the third period, six players easing into double-figure scoring.

But as has occurred before this season, Melbourne figuratively put the cue in the rack at that point and the Bullets came storming back with a stunning 39-point final quarter.

Mitch Norton hit 16 of his 19 points in the final period and Lamar Patterson had 11 as Brisbane closed to 88-91 on a Norton triple, 67 ticks left to tock.

To stop the clock, the Bullets fouled returnee Shea Ili but he was 8-of-9 from the stripe overall - Melbourne going 31-of-36 from the FT line compared to Brisbane's 8-of-11 - as the league leaders steadied for a 99-93 victory.

In Perth, New Zealand refused to buckle and led by Parker Jackson-Cartwright (22 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 0 turnovers in 34 minutes) only trailed the Wildcats by four heading into the final term.

PJC gave the Breakers the lead midway through the final quarter before Kristian Doolittle suddenly caught fire. The Doctor piled in 10 straight points, then made it 13 after a David Okwera (14 points at 86 per cent, 6 rebounds) fast break as Perth ravaged NZ in the endgame.

Okwera was huge but Doolittle the Man with 24 points at 50 per cent (15 in the last quarter) and 14 rebounds to steer Perth to safety.

Round 9

New Zealand Breakers 113 (Mennenga 25, Brockington 19, Jackson-Cartwright 15, Lopez 13, Baker 12; Baker 11 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 7 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 84 (Prather 26, Mathias 12, Harrison, Ducas 11; Harrison, Prather 8 rebs; Ducas 5 assts) at The Rifle Range, Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre. Crowd: 2,275 Q-Q: 27-18, 41-18, 24-21, 21-27. Ignite Cup Pts: New Zealand 6, Brisbane 1

Adelaide 36ers 97 (Cheatham 27, Vasiljevic 14, Cotton 12, Rakocevic, Cameron 11, Humphries 10; Cheatham 14 rebs; Cheatham, Cotton 4 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 86 (Campbell 20, Deng 17, Bannan 16, Marshall, Hamilton 12; Bannan 14 rebs; Ayre, Marshall 4 assts) at The Anthill, MyState Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,340

South East Melbourne Phoenix 101 (Glover 24, Sobey 17, Brown 13, Iwundu 12, Hunter 11, Foxwell 10; Brown 6 rebs; Foxwell 7 assts) d Cairns Taipans 90 (McVeigh 22, King 16, Schofield 14, Galloway 13, Andrews 11; Schofield 8 rebs; Andrews 10 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 3,567

Melbourne United 99 (Doyle 28, Edwards 14, Goulding 13, Walker 12, Delany, Ili 10; Bowen 7 rebs; Ili, Doyle 4 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 93 (Norton 19, Patterson 18, Harrison 16, Mathias 11; harrison 11 rebs; 3 with 3 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 8,930

Perth Wildcats 88 (Doolittle 24, Okwera 14, Pepper 13, Duke 12, Henshall 10; Doolitle 14 rebs; 3 with 2 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 75 (Jackson-Cartwright 22, Baker 18, Loe 10; Lopez 10 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 9 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 12,350

Sydney Kings 98 (Davis 17, Robertson 14, Cooks 13, Kuol 12; Soares 11 rebs; Davis 8 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 71 (Hickey 19, Harvey 18, Peterson 10; Peatling, McGee, Hickey 9 rebs; Hickey 8 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Cfrowd: 5,378

Adelaide 36ers 105 (Cotton 41, Humphries 18, Cheatham 16; Humphries 13 rebs; Cotton 8 assts) d Cairns Taipans 101 (McVeigh 39, King 21, Lee 15, Galloway 14; Lee 9 rebs; Andrews 8 assts) in Overtime [91-91] at Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,878