Basketball On The Internet.

THE NBL's "round of upsets" continued last night with South East Melbourne staving off a fast-finishing New Zealand - not entirely unexpected given the Breakers' loss of Zylan Cheatham - and Cairns completely controlling Sydney for 40 minutes, Bul Kuol playing all of them.

At John Cain Arena, the Phoenix made their intentions clear early, Mitch Creek leading the way with the game's first bucket, then blocking a shot and compiling two steals in the opening minutes.

Inside, Alan Williams (21 points, 13 rebounds) went to work and from 11-11, South East rolled on to 19-11, the Breakers playing catch-up the rest of the way.

Will Cummings showed his full array of offensive tricks to have 16 points by halftime, the Breakers scratching back a little to only trail 48-60 at that interval.

But it just drew progressively uglier for New Zealand as players such as Gary Browne (18 points, 8 assists), Creek (20 points at 70 per cent, 6 rebounds, two assists, two blocks) and Ben Ayre had their way as Phoenix pumped out to an 80-54 buffer.

This was some of the most impressive, spectacular and exciting basketball South East has produced.

Even at 82-56 midway through the third, this game looked done-and-dusted. But NZ coach Mody Maor had other plans, trying a different zone alighnment which turned the contest on its ear.

By the last break the Breakers, with Parker Jackson-Cartwright (33 points at 52 per cent, 8 assists) unstoppable, Will McDowell-White (14 points) bringing Mangok Mathiang into the game and Finn Delany (21 points at 67 per cent, 3-of-4 threes) emerging, had the deficit back to 68-84.

It was 73-84 when Williams scored for SEM to temporarily halt the Breaker comeback.

Temporarily.

Delany's free throws cut it under double-digits before Creek's bucket left the Phoenix "safe", ahead 94-81 with 3:50 left.

Two triples by Delany and some Jackson-Cartwright FT perfection (he was 14-of-16 from the stripe overall) and sphincters were tightening. When Cam Gliddon - remember him? - hit a 3-pointer, NZ was all the way back to 100-102 but out of time to pull off a remarkable comeback.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 103 (Williams 21, Creek 20, Browne 18, Cummings 16, Ayre 10; Williams 13 rebs; Browne 8 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 100 (Jackson-Cartwright 33, Delany 21, McDowell-White 14, La'Afa 10; Mathiang 9 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 8 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 6,195

BUL KUOL was "The Man" in Cairns as the Taipans, down Tahjere McCall and Taran Armstrong, secured a memorable home win over defending champion Sydney, made all the more meritorious by the fact it lost star import Patrick Miller in-game and Kuol played the full 40 minutes.

Miller was having a significant incfluence too when he went crashing down on a break to the hoop, hitting the back of his head hard on the hardwood and also smacking his hip in the process.

He saw no further action, Cairns playing the second half with Alex Mudronja seeing more minutes and Next Star Bobi Klintman absolutely huge for 17 points and eight rebounds.

Kuol not only finished with a game-high 24 points, but also was tasked with containing 2022 league MVP Jaylen Adams (13 points on 4-of-16 shooting), a job he did only slightly better than Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah whose player rotations were, at times, baffling, to say the very least.

As the Kings struggled to find consistent winners, former Taipan Kouat Noi was his stand-out with 18 points at 50 per cent, another former Orangeman DJ Hogg also impressive early before his match fitness caught up with him.

Sam Waardenburg's 22 points at 56 per cent included 2-of-4 triples as the focused Taipans threatened to blow out the game at times, Sydney always able to rein them back in.

But someone at Sydney needs to explain FIBA rules to import Denzel Valentine whose crude unsportsmanlike foul to stop the clock with 91 seconds left and the Kings trailing 76-80, was critical.

Klintman converted both free throws and Kuol waltzed through the defence on the extra possession for a lay-up and the Kings were cooked, the Taipans magnificent.  

CAIRNS TAIPANS 87 (Kuol 24, Waardenburg 22, Klintman 16; Klintman 8 rebs; Miller, Klintman, Waardenburg 3 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 80 (Noi 18, Hogg, Adams 13, Bolden 11; Adams 8 rebs; 4 with 2 assts) at Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 4,587