The big three have quickly become the big two in the NBL after the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United dispatched their nearest rivals in nail-biting fashion.
Heading into a week off for the international break, both teams stepped up in round seven to stave off opponents deemed among the likeliest to join them in the play-offs.
Any suggestion the third-placed Sydney Kings can be ranked alongside the Wildcats and United as title contenders must be put aside, for now at least, after Melbourne's dramatic 84-82 win.
The defending champions needed Mitch McCarron's tip-in with 2.4 seconds remaining to quell Sydney's late recovery.
Jerome Randle was sensational for the Kings with 35 points but former NBA star Andrew Bogut was less productive than Melbourne counterpart Josh Boone in the battle of the league's best centres.
The outcome was proof for Kings coach Andrew Gaze his 5-4 team are not yet on the same page as second-placed Melbourne (9-3) who have beaten them in nine successive fixtures.
"Hopefully it's something we'll look back on and see it as a real pivotal learning experience," Gaze said.
"If we stay together and continue to build what we're doing on the floor, I think we're going to get better. We've got a realisation that we've got to get better."
The injury-hit Wildcats were pushed to the limit in a double-header against the NZ Breakers which was separated by two days and 5400km.
They won the first 98-93 in Auckland in overtime. It was notable for five of the home side's players fouling out, prompting a second blast at officials in the space of a week from Breakers coach Kevin Braswell.
The league-leading Wildcats (10-1) battled back from 16 points down in the return clash in Perth on Sunday to prevail 91-86, doing it without reigning MVP Bryce Cotton, sidelined with a swollen thumb.
American compatriot Terrico White filled the void with clutch plays as his fast-finishing team poured in 32 final-quarter points to lodge a seventh straight win.
The Breakers (4-7) slumped to sixth, surpassed by Brisbane (5-6) and Adelaide (5-7) in what shapes as a possible season-long race for fourth place.
The week opened with Brisbane's emphatic 104-85 win over Illawarra, fuelled by Lamar Patterson's 24 points.
Adelaide consigned the last-placed Cairns Taipans (1-8) to an eighth straight loss, winning 109-95 thanks to Jacob Wiley's breakout 30-point haul.
The 36ers are struggling for consistency, however and succumbed 120-109 in Illawarra on Sunday as the Hawk's improved to 4-7, paced by Todd Blanchfield's 24 points in a testy encounter.
