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IF you'd asked anyone which club would be leading the NBL after four rounds, the defending champion Sydney Kings would have been a fair and reliable - and accurate - guess. But come on. Who would have had New Zealand Breakers and Cairns Taipans equal second? Perth at fifth? Melbourne eighth?

Of course it is early days but few foresaw the great coaching job Mody Maor would be helming at New Zealand or that Adam Forde's belief in his Cairns roster was warranted.

Yes, the sample size is very small and there is no shortage of teams falling very much into the "work-in-progress" category.

No-one was expecting Perth, for example, to be so decisively pounded by Scott Roth's surging JackJumpers in Tasmania.

And we do know that the Adelaide 36ers and now South East Melbourne Phoenix will prove  a lot better than anticipated.

Has The Anthill (MyState Bank Arena) in Hobart become the toughest venue to win in?

Many would have you believe as much and there's no doubt their fans - who went without the joys of an NBL presence for far too long - are truly committed behind their team.

"This is our house," Roth reminded everyone after the Jackies' record-breaking win over the Wildcats.

And wow, hasn't that become important? New Zealand lost at home to SEM. Then won on the road at Cairns.

The Taipans won on the road at Melbourne. Then lost at home to New Zealand.

Adelaide beat Sydney on the road before the Kings flew down to Melbourne to rock United.

Owning "our house" - or home court advantage - is not easy for anyone this season. Now there's a fact that's genuinely unrivalled.

 ROUND 4 - When 'home' means so little

SETTING a new club scoring record with a 38-point opening period was an outstanding way for South East Melbourne to shake off its recent blues and bring the Breakers crashing back to earth with a heavy thud. In front of its adoring home fans, New Zealand was not only jumped, but never led and even trailed by as many as 29 points. The Phoenix ran rampant in their best effort of the season so far. Gary Browne's 9 assists made a big difference, the Breakers never really in it. 

South East Melbourne Phoenix 99 (Adnam 17, Williams 16, Creek 15, Kell Iii 13, Qi 10; Williams 9 rebs; Browne 9 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 77 (Brantley 17, Pardon 16, Le'afa 10; Loe 8 rebs; Le'afa 4 assts) at The Breakwater, Trusts Arena. Crowd: 2,288 BELOW: A happier NZ-SEM clash

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WHEN Cairns rolled out a 22-0 run during the third quarter against an offensively impotent United, the dynamic and momentum of this game changed remarkably. Keanu Pinder's 26-point, 10-rebound double was gold, as were Shannon Scott's 19-point, 9-assists haul and quality minutes at both ends from Mirko Djeric. More poised down the stretch than Melbourne - and still down Tahjere McCall - the Taipans showed last round's road win at Sydney also was no fluke.

Cairns Taipans 81 (Pinder 26, Scott 19, Hogg 13, Djeric 11; Pinder 10 rebs; Scott 9 assts) d Melbourne United 77 (Rathan-Mayes 21, Tucker 19, Goulding 16; Tucker 10 rebs; Tucker, Goulding 3 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 4,449

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ADELAIDE tried very hard to lose this but Sydney was too incompetent down the stretch to capitalise, Dejan Vasiljevic missing a big layup late before pleading for a foul call on what was no contact. Craig Randall nailed 6-of-11 threes and Daniel Johnson reacted to a non-call smack in the face with his season-best 17 points, plus eight boards. Their 29-18 third quarter should have turned this in the Kings' favour but they blew several chances late in the match.

Adelaide 36ers 92 (Randall 24, Johnson 17, McCarron, Cleveland 15, Franks 13; Johnson 8 rebs; Randall 5 assts) d Sydney Kings 88 (Walton 23, Vasiljevic 15, Simon, Noi 12; Cooks 10 rebs; Walton 6 assts) at the Kingdome, Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 8,154

* * *

GETTING the jump on South East Melbourne and pushing its lead out to 11 showed plenty of good signs for Brisbane. But Mitch Creek (31 points) led the Phoenix back and Gary Browne also left no doubt as to his value with a season-best 11 assists. Late triples by Nathan Sobey and Tanner Krebs brought the Bullets within a point but down the stretch, Browne made two huge plays to cement a home victory and send Brisbane to 0-5.

South East Melbourne Phoenix 89 (Creek 31, Williams 11, Adnam, Te Rangi 10; Williams 8 rebs; Browne 11 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 88 (Cadee 21, Johnson 15, Harrison, Baynes 11, Sobey 10; Harrison 8 rebs; Sobey, Cadee 5 assts) at the House of the Rising Sun, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 5,432

* * *

PERTH was loving life, ahead 23-22 after one over Tasmania on the road. Then the sky tumbled in, the JackJumpers going full throttle with a 34-17 second period. Scott Roth's genuine TEAM smothered the Wildcats defensively and shared the ball offensively to score the franchise's most points in a game and create its biggest ever win. Milton Doyle contributed to the highlight reel with a superb dunk and Matt Kenyon was worth a dozen crates of Tassie apples.

Tasmania JackJumpers 103 (McVeigh 17, Kelly 16, Doyle 15, Kenyon 14, Magette 11; Doyle 10 rebs; Magette 10 assts) d Perth Wildcats 72 (Cotton 14, Travers 12, Webster, Blanchfield 9; Travers 8 rebs; Cotton 4 assts) at the Anthill, MyState Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,231

* * *

THE first quarter of this one in Cairns certainly was one for insomniacs as New Zealand was held to the equal lowest first quarter score of all time, a paltry 5 points. Returning import Barry Brown Jr scored a free throw with 2:41 left to open the Breakers' account as they went 0-of-15 from the floor before Brown made their only basket of the period at 1:35. They went 1-of-17 for the quarter. But, and it was a big but, Cairns wasn't able to apply any scoreboard pressure, shooting abysmally, some of Sam Waardenburg's decision-making cringeworthy. From 11 up, Cairns was then held to 33 per cent shooting, no surprise as Brown led NZ past it and on to a memorable road win. 

New Zealand Breakers 68 (Brown 24, Brantley 13, Le'afa 11; Vodanovich, Pardon 8 rebs; McDowell-White 4 assts) d Cairns Taipans 64 (Hogg 25, Kuol 13, Scott 6; Pinder 12 rebs; Scott 8 assts) at the Orange Grove, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 4,091

* * *

STARTING this game like a house on fire, Melbourne steadily burnt to the ground as Sydney put it out of its misery yet again. Rayjon Tucker (20 points, 10 rebs) was red hot early and Isaac Humphries was looking the part too. Xavier Rathan-Mayes was suppressing his instincts and feeding the ball around as United pulled 12 clear. Even Chris Goulding was on the end of some decent passes but the Kings simply hung tough, then wore United down with consistent efforts across the board, Derrick Walton Jr dished 8 assists, five Kings in double figures and three more on eight or nine as Melbourne again imploded.

Sydney Kings 87 (Soares, Cooks 14, Hunter 12, Vasiljevic 11, Noi 10; Cooks 10 rebs; Walton 8 assts) d Melbourne United 69 (Tucker 20, Goulding 14, Humphries 10; Tucker 10 rebs; Rathan-Mayes 7 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 10,300

* * *

IT started with Brisbane utilising NBA champion big man Aron Baynes and it finished with the Bullets recording their first win, smacking Illawarra in Wollongong and consigning the Hawks to the league cellar. Baynes had his best game as a Bullet with a 17-point, 14-rebound double and Jason Cadee had 4-of-6 threes in his 16 points. The Hawks were chasing from the start, trailed by as many as 29 and desperately need to get Peyton Siva in uniform.

Brisbane Bullets 82 (Baynes 17, Cadee 16, Johnson, Sobey 11, Mitchell 10; Baynes 14 rebs; Sobey 7 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 56 (Harvey 13, Froling 11, Deng 8; Mathiang, Froling, Dent 6 rebs; Dent 4 assts) at the Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 2,011

* * *

QUOTE of the WEEK

"First team to 80 wins?" - New TV caller Damon Lowery makes his prediction with 6:15 left between Cairns and United, Melbourne up 72-68. Cairns won 81-77. Unlike a lot of the new TV faces/voices, Lowery is a definite "find" with insightful commentary, no BS and on-the-money calls.

PS

Lowery can make a free throw under pressure too. Maybe it's time the Kings had him out to practice?

TOMORROW: Team of the Week