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DEFENDING NBL champion Illawarra produced an amazing form reversal to just miss scraping the 36ers' major scalp in Adelaide, South East reasserted its bona fides against Perth, after Xavier Cooks was the X-factor in Sydney's win over Brisbane and Jack McVeigh enjoyed a successful return to Tasmania.

Launceston home games again proved jinxed for the JackJumpers as Cairns, which showed almost a half of promise in its loss to Brisbane, finally struck a winning formula.

The Taipans' 75-69 win was encouraging for wayward playmaker Andrew Andrews, this time his 27 points coming at a very respectable 60 per cent, with a perfect 4-of-4 threes.

McVeigh had 23 and a surprising scuffle with championship winning teammate and buddy Majok Deng as Tasmania struggled to find offensive support for Bryce Hamilton. 

The JackJumpers shot the ball at 37 per cent, with 4-of-25 threes.

In Brisbane, Cooks was an early offensive target for Matthew Dellavedova which put the struggling Kings forward en route to 24 points at 67 per cent, 10 rebounds and an overdue confidence boost.

Despite a strong showing against Cairns, the Bullets were back to playing road-cone defence, conceding 35 points in the opening quarter before a 59-34 second half by Sydney.

The 37-point battering was the largest road win by the Kings over Brisbane in the club's history and the Bullets' biggest loss at Boondall Entertainment Centre. It also marked coach Brian Goorjian's biggest ever win in Queensland over all of its various teams across the ages.

Nathan Sobey continued his MVP-like season as South East Melbourne outlasted Perth in Melbourne, Owen Foxwell hitting a huge 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining for a 91-82 lead, the biggest of the game.

Closing out his best game of the season, Perth import Kristian Doolittle reduced the deficit with a dunk, then another basket after great Wildcats hustle forced a Phoenix shot-clock violation.

Sobey remarkably ran down a Jo Lual-Acuil fast break to reject the big-man's shot. But with 45 seconds left, Angus Glover injured an ankle harassing Jaron Rillie on a Wildcats sideline inbounds.

With Glover down, Rillie coolly sank an open triple from the top of the key to bring the score to 89-91, but Sobey next drew a foul and stuck both free throws to ensure the win was preserved.

In Adelaide, Tyler Harvey lost his mind momentarily as Illawarra clawed back to 88-89 largely on the work of William "Davo" Hickey's 12-point final period.

Hickey and Javale McGee had been unstoppable in the Hawks' final quarter fightback but only needing a regulation basket to win, Harvey looked off his teammates, ran down the shot-clock, drove and threw up a piece of poop that never was going in.

Harvey has hit many a winning shot in his time in the NBL but this was ridiculous, given a pick-and-roll with McGee and Hickey possibly would have achieved the desired result. It certainly would have been a far better option.

Quickly fouling Bryce Cotton, he surprisingly made only the second free throw for a 90-88 lead, seven seconds left, Illawarra taking time-out.

Fouled at the death, Hickey, who played a vastly improved game after his comeback disaster against New Zealand, missed both free throws and the 36ers survived a major scare.

Adelaide started strongly and should have been a long way clear in the first quarter except for the haphazard substitution pattern of coach Mike Wells who appeared to be running off a prearranged rotation plan which bore no resemblance to what was actually occurring.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Dan Grida tag-teamed Cotton, whose 24 points came at 36 per cent and were greatly aided by 14 trips to the free throw line.

Zylan Cheatham enjoyed another strong game and down the stretch when Adelaide truly needed it, Dejan Vasiljevic swished the big buckets that mattered.

Round 7

Perth Wildcats 95 (Lual-Acuil 23, Pepper 19, Doolittle 14, Okwera 13, Rillie 11, Henshall 10; Russo-Nance 7 rebs; Doolittle 4 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 84 (Hamilton 26, Marshall, Bannan 15, Campbell 12, Deng 11; Bannan 8 rebs; Campbell 7 assts) at The Anthill, MyState Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,139. Q-Q: 16-28, 21-13, 35-27, 23-16 Ignite Cup Pts: Perth 6, Tasmania 1

Brisbane Bullets 113 (Harrison, Prather 21, Adams 20, Murray 16, Ducas 13, Mathias 11; Prather 10 rebs; Adams 7 assts) d Cairns Taipans 85 (McVeigh 23, Galloway 12, Andrews 11; Lee 8 rebs; Andrews 10 assts) at The Bullethole, Brisbane Enterainment Centre. Crowd: 3,684

New Zealand Breakers 102 (Mennenga 21, Baker 19, Lopez 14, Brockington 12, Jackson-Cartwright 11, Davison 10; Mennenga 11 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 6 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 60 (McGee 13, Harvey 11, 3 with 6; McGee 10 rebs; Hickey 6 assts) at the Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 4,080

Cairns Taipans 75 (Andrews 27, McVeigh 23, Schofield 18; 4 with 6 rebs; Andrews 3 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 69 (Hamilton 21, Magnay, Bannan 12; Bannan 12 rebs; Hamilton 6 assts) at the Silverdome. Crowd: 3,255

Sydney Kings 116 (Cooks 24, Soares, Davis 19, Galloway 16, Kuol 13, Noi 11; Cooks 10 rebs; Dellavedova, Davis 7 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 79 (Prather 24, Mathias 16, Harrison, Adams 13; Harrison 7 rebs; Dalton 4 assts) at the Bullethole, Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 5,039

South East Melbourne Phoenix 94 (Sobey 22, Foxwell 20, Glover, Brown 12; Lewis 11 rebs; Lewis 6 assts) d Perth Wildcats 89 (Doolittle 19, Rillie 16, Windler 15, Lual-Aciul 13; Doolittle 13 rebs; Rillie 7 assts) at the Firepit, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 9,386

Adelaide 36ers 90 (Cotton 24, Vasiljevic 16, Cheatham 13, Humphries, Cameron 12; Cheatham 13 rebs; Cotton 9 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 88 (Hickey 20, McGee 17, Harvey 15, Peatling 12, Blanchfield 10; McGee 11 rebs; Hickey 8 assts) at Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,983