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ILLAWARRA continued on its winning way, last night smashing South East Melbourne in Traralgon and revealing the Phoenix without Mitch Creek are on the precipice of falling out of contention, before Adelaide produced arguably its best losing performance of the season, ultimately held at bay by the NBL's pacesetting Melbourne United.

Once it was established the left knee injury Creek suffered late in SEM's savage loss to Melbourne would keep him out for between 10-14 days, the Hawks' chances of winning rose exponentially.

Having already beaten South East at home 113-106 in Round 2 and in its rejuvenated form under interim coach Justin Tatum, some of us already had Illawarra as favourite to win this.

Creek's absence only accelerated the prospect of Illawarra going 3-1 during Tatum's short tenure and when Tyler Harvey started in superb shooting form, this was a fait accompli.

Harvey had 22 points to halftime and while Gary Browne worked his butt off after the break to keep him under wraps, Sam Froling (16 points at 78 per cent, 6 rebounds) and Gary Clark (12 points, 13 rebounds) had the keyway covered.

Struggling to find someone to pick up the points and boards Creek's absence created, Alan Williams had a 17-point, 12-rebound double and new import recruit Abdel Nader showed plenty of exciting promise in his first game in two years.

But no-one could consistently keep the scoreboard ticking as the Hawks laid out a 26-12 second quarter Smackdown reminiscent of the recent Throwdown.

Reuben Te Rangi did his best for the Phoenix, as did Ben Ayre but they were simply overwhelmed by the hustle, tenacity and commitment of the Hawks' depth, players such as Mason Peatling, Lachie Olbrich, Hyunjung Lee and Co all contributing to another terrific victory. 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100 (Harvey 25, Froling 16, Robinson 14, Clark 12, Peatling 11; Clark 13 rebs; Robinson 5 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 72 (Williams 17, Ayre 15, Te Rangi 11; Williams 12 rebs; Browne 6 assts) at Gippsland Sports Stadium. Crowd: 3,082

ADELAIDE repeatedly had its chances to raise the white flag against an, at times, totally rampant league-leading Melbourne squad.

Chris Goulding iced three absolutely wicked 3-pointers in the first quarter alone as United started to sneak away 28-23 at the close of the period.

The 36ers could have shut up shop there, but under interim coach Scott Ninnis, instead fought back. In the game trailing 37-40, it was Tanner Krebs' turn to snuff out the Sixers, with three 3-pointers in succession to drive the lead out to 49-37.

Again, the Sixers of old would simply have folded along the dotted lines at this point, but no. After a full week under Ninnis' assured guidance, it was obvious players such as Isaac Humphries (16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Jacob Wiley (14 points, 9 rebounds, an assist, a steal, a block) are relishing the new environment where they are a focus.

Humphries battled his heart out against Melbourne's twin-tower combination of Jo Lual-Acuil (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Ariel Hukporti (5 points, 2 rebounds, 4 fouls) and made the defensive keyway an area of concern for the home team.

A Goulding three and an Ian Clark triple had United a whopping 75-57 ahead with 4:30 left in the third, the potential there for Adelaide to again fly the white flag.

Instead, threes by Wiley and Mitch McCarron forced a Melbourne timeout, another Clark three rebuilding the lead to 80-63. Goodnight Adelaide?

No. Good evening Dejan Vasiljevic, Wiley with another threeball and Humphries inside in a run that had Adelaide at 72-80 by the last break.

Trey Kell found his shot and Adelaide's run continued into the fourth as a 13-0 recovery, buckets by Wiley and Vasiljevic trimming the deficit to 76-80 until Shea Ili's drive restored order.

Another big Goulding three pushed Melbourne to 85-77, Ili's next drive making it 87-77. Surely now the end of the 36ers?

Vasiljevic banged in a big three, Alex Starling finished a layup and it was 82-87. It was time for Matthew Dellavedova to control a couple of possessions but still the Sixers would not go quietly.

At 87-91 they were still alive but visibly tiring as wave upon wave of United offensive options wore them down. It was the second straight game Melbourne had seven scorers in double figures and its fifth successive game over 100 points.

Campbell Blogg's 3-pointer to beat the buzzer inflated the score, leaving United fans content, but Sixers fans excited at what the rest of the season may yet reveal.

MELBOURNE UNITED 107 (Ili 16, Lual-Acuil, Goulding 15, Travers 14, Dellavedova 13, Krebs 12, Clark 10; Lual-Acuil 12 rebs; Dellavedova 7 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 96 (Vasiljevic 23, Kell 22, Humphries 16, Wiley 14; Wiley 9 rebs; Vasiljevic 6 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 7,757

PS

Vasiljeic, cramping on the baseline late in the game, was assisted by a random spectator in a sight few - if any - NBL fans have previously witnessed. His quick action and the eventual arrival of a Sixers staffer meant DJ was able to finish out the game.

Who says Christmas spirit is dead?