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NATHAN Sobey led brilliantly from the front with 33 points, 5 assists and 5 boards as South East humbled Sydney on top of a sizzling come-from-beyond - and that's from waaay behind - win by Brisbane over New Zealand in Auckland where Lamar Patterson scored the winning bucket in an 84-83 great escape.

But for Phoenix, it was "the hunters", Maldonado and Jordan who raised their games to leave Sydney's offensive shortcomings brutally exposed yet again, Xavier Cooks almost irrelevant.

The league's 2022-23 Most Valuable Player fouled out after 19:50 of (in)action, compiling a paltry three points from one credited field goal attempt and 1-of-2 from the stripe, three defensive rebounds, two blocks and two turnovers.

It was a miserable night at the office for Cooks, Tim Soares stepping up for the Kings with 24 points at 64 per cent and Kendric Davis scoring 31 and gifting six assists.

Owen Foxwell went after both Davis and Matthew Dellavedova, scoring 17 points at 58 per cent, six rebounds and eight assists and Hunter Maldonado produced a long-overdue shooting game, his 17 points at 83 per cent.

Trailing 45-48 at halftime, the hunters became the hunted, Maldonado and Jordan both scoring 9 points in a 34-25 period that swung the momentum.

Early into the last, Jordan Hunter - restricted early by his not unusual foul troubles - swished back-to-back triples for an 87-77 lead which broke open the contest, Sobey a constant, his 33 points at 60 per cent, with 6-of-11 threes.

Davis shot the ball well for Sydney, aided by the benefit of 18 free throw attempts, several of his trips the result oif his regular staging and flopping.

Whether that was what set off Sobey, the Olympic bronze medallist had a few words to say after Davis was rewarded with another visit to the charity stripe, prompting an emotional physical reaction which cost him a technical foul.

In Auckland, Sam Mennenga produced the greatest first half of his career for New Zealand, scoring 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting as the Breakers had Brisbane on the ropes, ahead 36-13, then 52-28 during the second quarter.

Nursing a 57-39 lead at halftime, the Breakers had no answer when the Bullets started to use overlooked big-man Tyrell Harrison to combat Mennenga by attacking him.

Harrison had six points on four shot attempts to halftime but finished with 16 at 60 per cent with 11 rebounds, Mennenga never a factor again and Breakers coach Petteri Koponen unable to stem the bleeding.

Casey Prather, Patterson and Jaylen Adams came up big down the stretch as Brisbane won the third term 29-15 to just be 68-72 in arrears going into the last.

Koponen again underplayed import Rob Baker and made the mind-numbing decision to insert Reuben Te Rangi with five minutes to play, the result poised on a knife's edge.

Having still led 83-80, NZ could not stop Patterson scoring, Taine Murray then rising to block a driving Max Darling to regain possession for the Bullets. Patterson knows how to score a match-winner and did it again, Koponen calling time-out for a last play, a quarter of a minute left.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright (17 points on 7-of-23 shooting, 5 assists) drove but his shot missed and Harrison knocked the ball off the ring. It bounced straight to Izayah Le'Afa for a regulation shot off the backboard for the win.

But he missed.

Round 6

Perth Wildcats 110 (Lual-Acuil 24, Pepper, Doolittle 18, Rillie, Henshall 10; Doolittle 8 rebs; Russo-Nance, Doolittle 4 assts) d Cairns Taipans 78 (Schofield 16, Smith 13, Stattman, Andrews, Adnam 10; Galloway 8 rebs; Smith 5 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 3,317 Q-Q: 30-22, 30-20, 28-20, 22-16. Ignite Cup Pts: Perth 7, Cairns 0

Brisbane Bullets 84 (Prather 23, Patterson 20, Harrison 16, Adams 14, Murray 10; Prather 12 rebs; Adams 4 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 83 (Mennenga 27, Jackson-Cartwright 17, Brockington 12; 4 with 6 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 5 assts) at HeartBreakers Hotel, Eventfinda Stadium. Crowd: N/a

South East Melbourne Phoenix 112 (Sobey 33, Maldonado, Foxwell 17, Hunter 15, Aliir, Iwundu 10; Foxwell 6 rebs; Foxwell 8 assts) d Sydney Kings 95 (Davis 31, Soares 24, Noi, Dellavedova 14; 4 with 5 rebs; Davis 6 assts) at the Firepit, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 3,786