Basketball On The Internet.

BACK in the day, if your basketball team forfeited a match, it went into the books as a 20-0 loss and your team additionally lost a championship point. Between them yesterday, the NBL's two losers - South East Melbourne and Illawarra - collectively gave their respective opponents a 20-0 start and never truly recovered.

For the Phoenix in New Zealand, it was the official end of any championship run or playoff hopes the club may still remotely have entertained.

Giving the Breakers an 11-0 start, they were never in the contest.

In Wollongong, Adelaide burst to a 9-0 start and Illawarra was kept in a game of catch-up, its hopes of post-season activity also taking a solid smack to the chin.

New Zealand kept itself in the top six conversation when it kept South East Melbourne scoreless for more than four minutes to tip off the game in Auckland.

Anthony Lamb was on his way to a 31-point haul, shooting it at a white hot 78 per cent (11-of-14) as the Breakers were fun to watch, steadily and methodically dismantling a Phoenix side devoid of direction and discipline.

Yes, everyone is aware Alan Williams is cooked for the season, joining Craig Moller on the sidelines for the duration of the 2023-24 campaign.

But is that any excuse to consistently produce such putrid performances? The entire offence seems to be either get it to Mitch Creek (27 points on 10-of-19 shooting) and hope for the best, or drive and hope for the best - a shot or a pass to a corner three attempt maybe.

No wonder Abdel Nader looks completely wasted in this team but then, oh yeah, that's right, he hasn't played for two years so what he needed most was a team with structure.

That sure as hell is NOT South East Melbourne. The Phoenix are now bordering on the unwatchable, they suck so badly.

Whoever made the decision to release Daniel Johnson when Gorjok Gak came back instead of retaining him as Moller's injury replacement should win the No-Ball Prize.

Matt Kenyon, Reuben Te Rangi, Rhys Vague and limport Gary Browne are role players at best and Ben Ayre is far too busy showing attitude instead of aptitude. The NBL1 beckons this crew.

But enough about this trainwreck.

The Breakers were simply fun to watch and enjoy. Lamb obviously was conspicuous but Tom Abercrombie turned the clock back a couple of times, Mantas Rubstavicius was efficient, Cam Gliddon knocked down a couple of threes and Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Will McDowell-White took a stride toward assuring doubters they can successfully co-exist.

Both had 13 points and seven assists. Between them that was one assist short of the entire Phoenix fiasco.

Ahead 25-10 at the first break, New Zealand just built on it, much to the delight of a raucous home crowd. By the time they produced a 29-12 final quarter, SEM had packed up and gone to the airport.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 106 (Lamb 31, Rubstavicius 15, McDowell-White, Jackson-Cartwright 13, Cheatham 10; Mathiang 8 rebs; McDowell-White, Jackson-Cartwright 7 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 75 (Creek 27, Gak 13, Kenyon, Ayre 7; Creek 7 rebs; Ayre, Te Rangi 4 assts) at Spark Arena. Crowd: 4,940 (*And no, "limport" was not a typo.)

TREY Kell's 10 free throw attempts in just the first quarter as Adelaide launched into Illawarra off a 9-0 start, reflected the 36ers' aggressive mindset ... and also just how poor the officiating has become since "zero tolerance" was introduced, protecting them from any public scrutiny and, therefore, accountability.

It's usually Cairns and New Zealand with the greatest cause for alarm at the mercy of officiating vagaries, but Illawarra and Adelaide are never far behind.

Phantom kicked ball call, goal tend ignored - this time it was the Hawks on the receiving end, a relief for Sixers fans for a change.

But enough about the NBL's growing and distressing sideshow. Adelaide went into Wollongong wanting this badly and succeeded in bringing Scott Ninnis' record as interim coach to 5-5.

Kell led the assault but Nick Marshall (career best 12 points at 67 per cent), Kyrin Galloway (13 points at 63) and Alex Starling (8 points at 80 per cent) all again elevated their games appropriately.

Dejan Vasiljevic delivered 14 points at 50 per cent and, after some early misses, Isaac Humphries - and his teammates - remembered in time how big a giant he has been recently and he stood up again.

Humphries won the pivotal duel with Sam Froling, scoring 18 points at 60 per cent, adding 10 rebounds and a block, most of his best work in the second half when the Hawks rallied.

Hyunjung Lee was the home team's inspiration. Whether hitting triples (he was 5-of-9 in his career-high 24-point return), blocking a shot or diving on a loose ball, he had teammates and fans alike vigorously showing their approval.

Sadly though, Justin Robinson again stank offensively, his 0-of-6 return making his Round 16 contribution 0-of-13 in two Illawarra defeats. It's not as if his defence or playmnaking compensates. Time to hand him a plane ticket.

Tyler Harvey's 20 points came on 7-of-19 shooting with 3-of-10 threes. He remains mind-numbing in all the right AND all the wrong ways.

But Illawarra's biggest absentee was Gary Clark, clearly favouring his knee and never even a remote factor. The Hawks benchmen Lee, William Hickey (career-high 10 points at 80 per cent), AJ Johnson, Todd Blanchfield and Lachlan Olbrich outscored the stutters, er, starters, 49-40.

The win, Adelaide's fourth in its past five matches, brought it out of the bomb shelter where the Phoenix now will reside, that is unless someone on its remaining schedule forfeits.   

ADELAIDE 36ERS 96 (Kell 26, Humphries 18, Vasiljevic 14, Galloway 13, Marshall 12; Humphries 10 rebs; Marshall 3 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 89 (Lee 24, Harvey 20, Froling 14, Hickey 10; Froling 10 rebs; Harvey 4 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 3,555