The Adelaide 36ers are within touching distance of this year's NBL grand final after convincingly downing the Illawarra Hawks 93-78 in the semi-final series opener.
Newly-crowned league MVP Jerome Randle was prolific for the Sixers with 26 points and six rebounds.
The home side's dominant 28-15 second quarter was the key to them snapping a four-match pre-finals losing streak after the Hawks got off to a flier.
Tim Coenraad single-handedly kept Illawarra in the contest, scoring 26 points.
His four-point play on the coat-tails of Kevin White's back-to-back triples allowed the Hawks to control the early stages.
Anthony Drmic's three-pointer on the quarter-time buzzer shaved Illawarra's advantage to 27-24 before Randle, who accused the Hawks of playing "dirty" basketball in the lead-up to the game, led a commanding second term for Adelaide.
Nathan Sobey's spectacular block of Nick Kay's dunk attempt was the highlight of a lopsided second period, at the end of which the 36ers transformed their three-point quarter-time deficit into a 10-point half-time lead.
Adelaide extended its advantage to 64-47 midway through the third after a Matt Hodgson power slam and Mitch Creek's steal and breakaway dunk.
Illawarra pulled the gap back to 73-65 at three-quarter-time but the Hawks, with Coenraad, Marvelle Harris and Rhys Martin all fouling out, were unable to maintain the fightback.
Adelaide coach Joey Wright said his side's second-quarter turnaround was a result of settling down defensively.
"Early on, they did a really good job of creating mismatches and getting open shots," Wright said.
"In that first quarter they took advantage of our excitement - they got open shots and knocked them down.
"In the second quarter we settled in and were able to contest their shots and take advantage at the other end."
Hawks coach Rob Beveridge was disappointed with the 36ers' overwhelming advantage on the boards.
"We got smashed, simple as that, 56-40 (rebounds overall)," he said.
"You cannot win games unless you can rebound.
"It's really hard to compete against a team that actually gets on the glass as much as what they do.
"It was their night."
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