Basketball On The Internet.

BRYCE went off for 53, the Phoenix doused the Hawks by 40, Brisbane made a game out of it against United and the Breakers took care of a depleted Tassie to bring us to Sunday in NBL Round 5 with more questions than answers, other than one. That Mr Cotton is quite good at basketball.

We knew that, Sydney knew that and did something about it, South East Melbourne knew that but lost track of him early, and Cairns knew that but was helpless to do anything about it.

Going into its match with the 36ers down star recruit Jack McVeigh (wrist) and with a 79-110 loss at home to Adelaide just over a fortnight ago still very vivid, no-one gave the Taipans any sort of chance.

But Admiral Schofield (18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) had a memorable game, Andrew Andrews (23 points, 7 assists) was great until the endgame, and Reyne Smith connected on 4-of-8 threes - though two were in the final half-minute - to keep the Snakes' pulse beating.

The 36ers led by as many as 14 but clearly expected a less committed opponent and when the Taipans fought back and stayed in the contest, coach Mike Wells was left relying - as usual - on one man to save the day.

And Cotton delivered, his season-high 53 points another mesmerising performance enhanced by a 100 per cent return from a whopping 16 trips to the free throw line, with five threes and 16-of-29 from the floor overall ... and five assists.

While Cairns kept in touch, Andrews fired up consecutive ill-conceived threeballs, had a turnover, a foul and a tech foul which opened the door for Cotton to break through the 50-barrier from the stripe.

Schofield had drawn Cairns to 80-81 with a triple but from there it had no clue how to win it while Cotton did.

In Brisbane, a 31-16 first quarter by United had the unbeaten league leader in the box seat throughout, even leading by as many as 20 (82-62) on a Tanner Krebs reverse with 6:37 left in the game.

Suddenly, Jaylen Adams, again brought off the bench by the Bullets, caught fire, with 10 straight points in a 12-0 run broken up by a Chris Goulding free throw for an Adams' technical foul.

Unfazed, he produced another eight points in a run that brought Brisbane to 83-86 with 1:18 left and the crowd at Boondall out of its mind.

That's Milton Doyle time. He may have had an off shooting night but when it mattered, he delivered an immediate jumpshot, Tyson Walker completed a three-point play and Doyle struck a 3-pointer, restoring order.

Adams had 20 of his 29 in the final period, causing Melbourne a level of desperation it hardly anticipated.

With Anthony Drmic joining Majok Deng and David Johnson on Tasmania's sidelines - not to overlook the season-long loss of Sean MacDonald - and coming off a midweek Ignite Cup rout of Sydney, there was little in the JackJumpers' tank in Auckland.

They rushed out to a 14-6 buffer but once New Zealand came, Tassie's resistance was under enormous pressure.

By the first break, the Breakers were ahead 20-16, a 14-2 reply to the early going, then had that out to 40-31 by halftime.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright (21 points at 62 per cent, 4 rebounds, 6 assists) was in everything, Izaiah Brockington en route to a 17-point, 6-rebound return and coach Petteri Koponen finally went to his youth, with Carlin Davison and Max Darling given better minutes than the three Kiwi elder statesmen Reuben Te Rangi, Izayah Le'Afa and Rob Loe.

Why Sean Bairstow is in the Koponen's doghouse is anyone's guess but Rob Baker appears headed there too, afforded less than a quarter of action.

Sam Mennenga had 12 points, 8 boards as New Zealand wore down the Jackies, Will Magnay pairing 14 points with 12 boards and Ben Ayre again efficient off the bench.

With new import Wes Iwundu suited but not needed, in Melbourne, South East handed Illawarra a 40-point humiliation, exposing a team currently not only disjointed, but dysfunctional.

Despite Javale McGee's keyway dominance (22 points, 11 rebounds), Illawarra could not deliver the ball to him with any precision as it also shot at a wayward 36 per cent.

Starters Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Todd Blanchfield and Mason Peatling contributed seven points between them, while Tyler Harvey's 14 came at 37 per cent, with six turnovers. And as he did in Perth, he again lost his cool, this time getting in Malique Lewis' face.

Talk of keeping Harvey at the point when he is a combo guard and at his best when running alongside a genuine PG - witness Trey Kell last season - has to be revisited for the Hawks to have a genuine shot at a title defence.

The Phoenix won every quarter handsomely and produced three 30-plus point periods, exposing either a lack of commitment or effort by Illawarra's defenders.

Nathan Sobey carved up the Hawks en route to 21 points but it was Angus Glover off the bench who sent them into a flap. 

Glover struck 7-of-8 threes in the first half and ultimately a career-best 8-of-12 in his 26-point bag. He broke the game open and the longer it went, the more confident South East became. 

The question now is how much longer can Illawarra afford to wait for William "Davo" Hickey (eye) to return and whether he alone will be sufficient to restore his team's fortunes?

Round 5 (Includes Ignite Cup)

Tasmania JackJumpers 86 (Campbell 21, Bannan 18, Ayre 13; Bannan 14 rebs; Marshall, Bannan 6 assts) d Sydney Kings 70 (Galloway 13, Soares, Cooks 12, Dellavedova 11, Davis 10; Soares, Cooks 8 rebs; Cooks, Davis, Dellavedova 4 assts) at the Anthill, MyState Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,250 Q-Q: 29-19, 21-13, 19-18, 17-20. Cup Pts: Tasmania 6, Sydney 1

Brisbane Bullets 110 (Prather 34, Harrison 27, Devers 15, Ducas 14, Murray 12; Harrison 15 rebs; Adams, Patterson 6 assts) d Perth Wildcats 93 (Jones 19, Lual-Acuil 18, Windler 12, Henshall 10; Doolittle 5 rebs; Doolittle 6 assts) at the Bungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 6,110 Q-Q: 26-21, 30-27, 24-23, 30-22. Cup Pts: Brisbane 7, Perth 0

Adelaide 36ers 88 (Cotton 28, Humphries 21, Cheatham, Vasiljevic 8; Cheatham 14 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) d South East Melboiurne Phoenix 71 (Hunter 16, Sobey 12, Glover 11, Lewis 10; Hunter, Sobey 7 rebs; Maldonado 7 assts) at Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,802

New Zealand Breakers 82 (Jackson-Cartwright 21, Brockington 17, Mennenga 12; Mennenga 8 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 6 assts) d Tasmania Jack Jumpers 65 (Magnay 14, Hamilton 13, Ayre 11, Bannan 10; Magnay 12 rebs; Campbell 4 assts) at The Breakwater, Spark Arena. Crowd: 3,212

Melbourne United 95 (Goulding 22, Doyle 17, Krebs 16; Edwards 7 rebs; Walker 6 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 86 (Adams 29, Prather 26, Harrison 16; Harrison 11 rebs; Adams 5 assts) at the Bullethole, Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 4,899

Adelaide 36ers 91 (Cotton 53, Cameron 14, Humphries 8; Cheatham, Cameron 8 rebs; Cotton 5 assts) d Cairns Taipans 86 (Andrews 23, Schofield 18, Smith 17, Lee 14; Galloway, Schofield 9 rebs; Andrews 7 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 4,004

South East Melbourne Phoenix 116 (Glover 26, Sobey 21, Maldonado 13, Brown 11; Hunter 9 rebs; Maldonado 9 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 76 (McGee 22, Harvey 14, H.Froling 11; McGee 11 rebs; Harvey 3 assts) at the Firepit, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 5,615