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CHRIS Goulding broke 6,000 NBL career points and dragged Melbourne back from potential disaster to a heroic victory over Sydney after the Kings' NSW rival Illawarra shone in Auckland, taking out New Zealand behind two savage Gary Clark plays.

Clark's offensive rebound, turn and slam dunk broke the 65-65 deadlock at Spark Arena and his two sweet free throws closed the door on the Breakers and gave interim Hawks coach Justin Tatum an opening night win in the hotseat.

Not unexpectedly, the Hawks played full of focus from the tip-off, their resemblance to the disjointed team which led to coach Jacob Jackomas' dismissal last week barely perceptible.

They were up-and-in defensively, working hard in both man-to-man and zone to offset the confidence of a New Zealand team coming home from a glorious road win over Tasmania.

But now minus two starters with Will McDowell-White joining Zylan Cheatham on the long-term injury list, the Breakers looked tired and unable to find the right shots when it mattered most.

Tatum had his full roster engaged, but this was a case where it needed to be, such was the intensity of the defence Illawarra was playing.

New Zealand could not generate a consistent third scorer behind Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Anthony Lamb, apart from  a brief patch where Cam Gliddon struck a few long-bomb blows.

Never much in it, the hustle and intensity of the Hawks eventually wore down an already depleted and desperate Breakers team, Sam Froling with a hard-fought double-double of 16 and 12 leading his team, Tyler Harvey's shot selection also considerably better.  

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 69 (Froling, Harvey 16, Clark 13; Froling 12 rebs; Robinson 4 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 65 (Jackson-Cartwright, Lamb 20, Gliddon 10; Lamb 7 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 6 assts) at Spark Arena. Crowd: 5,703

AHEAD 53-38 at halftime and with Denzel Valentine playing his best game as a King, Jonah Bolden shining in the place of injured Jordan Hunter and DJ Hogg hot, Sydney looked ready to send ladder-leading Melbourne back to the drawing board.

Instead, after falling further behind at 38-57, United climbed aboard the broad shoulders of Chris Goulding and a fired up Luke Travers - who did not even resemble the player he was in the first half - and came steadily back into the contest.

Shea Ili worked overtime to create for teammates while pushing his body at the defensive end, Jo Lual-Acuil took control of the keyway and Flynn Cameron again made every minute he played a winner for United.

Having built a 19-point lead with Jaylen Adams scoreless through the first half, Sydney had reasons to feel good about where this might finish. No. It was shellshocked by the relentless assault Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman unleashed.

Clawing back to 65-72 with a quarter to play, the momentum was completely with Melbourne, the sold-out fan base roaring its approval as United's avalanche continued with a whopping 40-21 final quarter, highlights galore to keep them at fever pitch.

Sydney simply had no answer, the absence of Hunter pronounced but then largely offset by United still missing Ian Clark and Matthew Dellavedova, and with Ariel Hukporti not 100 per cent and managing less than a quarter.

In the end it was Melbourne by any margin -  ultimately 12, a 31-point second-half turnaround - sending the Kings skulking out of the tradesmen's exit and Goulding once again the star of the round.   

MELBOURNE UNITED 105 (Goulding 35, Travers 18, Lual-Acuil 17, Ili 12, Cameron 10; Travers 12 rebs; Ili 9 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 93 (Hogg 20, Valentine 19, Noi 12, Toohey, Bolden 10; Bolden 9 rebs; Valentine 7 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 10,175