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DEPLETED New Zealand last night opened the NBL round with a 10-point win over equally depleted Cairns before Sydney reasserted itself over its unfashionable "kid brother" Illawarra by double that, cruising to a 20-point victory despite Gary Clark's best efforts. 

The Taipans looked solid early in Christchurch, Bul Kuol leading from the front in the continued absence of Tahjere McCall and now Patrick Miller.

Cairns skipped to a seven-point lead with Bobi Klintman again significant before being restricted by foul woes.

Lat Mayen also was big with 18 points at 67 per cent, seven rebounds and five assists but after leading 38-37 at halftime, Cairns could not withstand New Zealand's 3-point barrage.

Izayah Le'Afa was stroking triples as the Breakers took advantage of three consecutive poor turnovers, two from Sam Waardenburg and one from Kuol, to open up a lead.

Cairns coach Adam Forde allowed his players to address their focus stumble, but after battling back, Anthony Lamb cut loose for the Breakers.

Lamb was anything but sheepish, hitting three 3-pointers in the third to give New Zealand a buffer which then blew out further when Will McDowell-White seized charge of the Breakers' offence in the last.

To its credit, Cairns fought to the finish but players such as Alex Mudronja and Josh Roberts were too timid in their approach on a night the Orange needed a full-blooded effort.

In contrast, Mantas Rubstavicius (11 points, 4-of-4 shooting) and Mangok Mathiang (11 rebounds) took their moments, enjoying arguably their best games as Breakers. 

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 91 (Lamb 19, McDowell-White, Le'Afa 14, Jackson-Cartwright 13, Rubstavicius 11; Mathiang 11 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 7 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 81 (Mayen, Kuol 18, Klintman 17; Mennenga, Mayen 7 rebs; Mayen, Waardenburg 5 assts) at Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch. Crowd: 4,909

SYDNEY pulled away from the Hawks just ahead of halftime and then never relented as Illawarra again devolved into a morass of mediocrity not reflective of its talent level.

Illawarra received solid service from Gary Clark (23 points at 61 per cent, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals) all night and players such as Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (10 points at 71 per cent in 16 minutes) and Dan Grida worked hard to keep it tight.

Sydney was simply businesslike in its approach, waiting for the inevitable Hawks lapse, Makuach Maluach (16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, 4-of-4 threes) stepping up among the Kings' marquee names.

Jonah Bolden threw down a wicked dunk, the Hawks' best moment coming after Grida blocked Shaun Bruce and the ball was whipped downcourt for Next Star AJ Johnson to drift in a sweet basket.

The final two minutes ahead of the main interval opened the door for Sydney to skip out to a 52-42 buffer, Jaylen Adams (16  points, 7 assists), Jordan Hunter (11 points, 5-of-6 shooting, 9 rebounds in 19 minutes) and Denzel Valentine leading the way.

The Kings opened the second half with an immediate bucket in a 10-3 start that soon blew the lead out to 20 and as many as 26, as the Hawks completely lost their way, degenerating into heroball offences and token defensive efforts.

Why Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas chose only to play Johnson 10 minutes - his second half dunk was the team's other highlight - and forget about Swaka Lo Buluk to get minutes into players of zero relevance only played into the Kings' hands.

Sydney played the way it is expected to but sadly, so did Illawarra.      

SYDNEY KINGS 103 (Maluach, Adams 16, Hogg 13, Hunter 11, Valentine, Noi 10; Bolden, Hunter 9 rebs; Adams 7 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 83 (Clark 23, Froling 13, Swaka Lo Buluk, Robinson 10; Froling 11 rebs; Robinson 4 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 3,934