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THEY tried, yet again, hard to blow it - this time with considerable "wind assistance" - but Cairns instead upset the Kings in Sydney, while in Adelaide, Bryce Cotton torched Brisbane, producing a timely reminder why he is part of the NBL's all-time great "Holy Trinity" alongside Leroy Loggins and Andrew Gaze.

Cotton debuted with Perth mid-year nine seasons ago, won five NBL MVP awards there, is an eight-time league scoring champion, an eight time All-NBL First Team selection, and a three-time championship winner, collecting two Larry Sengstock Medals as championship series MVP along the way.

So Brisbane coach Stu Lash tried the same tactic Adelaide coach Mike Wells used against Cotton last season by playing new league faces on him. Disrespecting him much?

He humiliated Adelaide then, he humiliated Brisbane today, comfortably eclipsing his 26-point debut with Perth by burying 39 points on the Bullets in his first 36ers NBL outing. He was shooting it at 61 per cent, and had six assists for good measure.

The Bullets' strategy was obviously flawed - not sure if their "coaching committee" was in complete alignment - as Cotton had Adelaide fans out of their seats delivering a mesmerising 15-point first quarter.

Flynn Cameron had the ball rolling for the 36ers, feeding Isaac Humphries (13 points at 100 per cent, six rebounds and underplayed at 22 minutes) but it was evident Brisbane big Tyrell Harrison (17 points at 88 per cent, 12 rebounds in 29 minutes) was an equally dangerous keyway presence.

Casey Prather (20 points, 6 assists) was another Bullets winner and Alex Ducas (16 points) also looked dangerous when not on impossible "defend Cotton" duties.

Seizing the upper hand through Cotton's mercurial brilliance, Adelaide allowed Brisbane back into the contest whenever Humphries was off and Harrison on. At separate stages, Harrison was shooting over Isaac White and Dejan Vasiljevic, exposing blatant flaws in the 36ers' defensive rotations.

More than once Wells - still arguably the weakest link in this rejuvenated Adelaide outfit - had Zylan Cheatham as his sole "big", surrounded by four guards and oblivious as to why Brisbane was surging back.

Isaac White was hugely expensive during a third period Brisbane surge but fortunately for the 36ers, whenever the game threatened to return to a contest, either Lash and his brains trust made diabolical substitution decisions, or Cotton simply again put the visitors to the sword.

He was, to paraphrase the late great Robert Palmer, simply irresistible.

So too were the Taipans in Sydney where Cairns coach Adam Forde on three separate occasions won "Coach's Challenges", exposing how the Kings were being unduly favoured.

Kendric Davis won a new fanbase with his 21 points but it came on an expensive 9-of-27 shooting and included a solitary 1-of-7 threes. His flopping also proved productive - where was that Euroleague ref when we needed him?

Cairns, as it did when it staved off Brisbane, stayed on task, Andrew Andrews playing a significant role when not cramping, organising the Taipans offence.

Jack McVeigh (24 points at 64 per cent, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a block) was the biggest beneficiary and had much to do as top import Admiral Schofield was shooting at 30 per cent and Reyne Smith jacking up the most shot attempts for his team.

When open, Smith is a sweet shooter, most of his 16 points off open looks. But when he has a hand in his face, he is wayward and needs to understand a pass is better than a poor forced shot attempt.

That will come, Kody Stattmann and Alex Higgins-Titsha providing invaluable minutes as Cairns took the initiative.

Reverting, as Brisbane did against Adelaide, to quick shots and one-on-everyone offences, Sydney was not going to win doing that, Jaylin Galloway already a shadow of the Asia Cup MVP - and he's the X-factor the Kings need firing.

The other X-man, Xavier Cooks, had to work too hard for his meagre 8-point return, Bul Kuol again a passenger and Tim Soares underplayed for a 12-point return.

As occurred in Cairns against Brisbane, the final minutes were hectic and almost farcical how often the calls favoured the home team, especially when McVeigh again was set upon on the floor and a jumpball called.

Guess which team the possession arrow happened to favour? But guess which team the Basketball Gods ultimately chose to favour?

Round 2

Melbourne United 103 (Doyle 18, Walker 13, Krslovic 12, Ili, Krebs, Delany 10; Edwards 6 rebs; Walker 8 assts) d South East Melbourne Phoenix 83 (Sobey 26, Brown 12, Hunter 9; Gak, Glover 6 rebs; Maldonado 7 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 10,035

Cairns Taipans 83 (Schofield, McVeigh 19, Lee 12; McVeigh 9 rebs; McVeigh 9 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 82 (Harrison 22, Freeman-Liberty 21, Prather 18, Adams 12; Harrison, Freeman-Liberty 7 rebs; Adams 6 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 4,052

Perth Wildcats 89 (Lual-Acuil 21, Windler 20, Doolittle 16; Windler 15 rebs; Henshall, Doolittle 3 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 78 (Jackson-Cartwright 18, Lopez 16, Le'Afa 14; Mennenga, Lopez 7 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 5 assts) at Spark Arena. Crowd: 4,047

Tasmania JackJumpers 91 (Hamilton 21, Campbell 17, Deng 14, Bannan 11, Drmic 10; Magnay 8 rebs; Campbell 4 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 86 (McGee 32, Harvey 19, Blanchfield 12; McGee 13 rebs; McLaughlin 6 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 5,123

Cairns Taipans 77 (McVeigh 24, Andrews, Smith 16; McVeigh 9 rebs; Andrews 7 assts) d Sydney Kings 74 (Davis 21, Soares 12, Dellavedova 10; Noi 9 rebs; Dellavedova 5 assts) at the Kingdom, Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 8,536

Adelaide 36ers 87 (Cotton 39, Humphries 13, White 10; Cheatham 14 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 80 (Prather 20, Harrison 17, Ducas 16, Adams 14; Harrison 12 rebs; Prather 6 assts) at Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,429

TOMORROW: What We Learnt 2