The sharp-shooting Cairns Taipans have taken advantage of a mistake-riddled performance by the Adelaide 36ers to score a 94-75 Christmas Eve blowout win.
Taipans captain Cam Gliddon (27 points) put on a perimeter shooting clinic, Alex Loughton (20 points) showcased his inside-outside prowess and Mitch McCarron was in everything as the visitors led from start to finish courtesy of a long-range assault.
Josh Childress (20 points, 13 rebounds) was valiant for the Sixers as was relentless reserve guard Nelson Larkins but the hosts, without Mitch Creek (hamstring), Ramone Moore (ankle) and Anthony Drmic (knee), were never in the hunt.
Cairns set up their triumph with a 28-18 opening term, their impressive shooting and switching befuddling the 36ers.
Adelaide stemmed the bleeding in the second term, limiting the Taipans to 14 points at 21 per cent, but were unable to make inroads at the other end.
An epidemic of turnovers, missed free throws and minimal support for Childress resulted in a 42-33 Cairns halftime lead.
Gliddon spearheaded a 13-0 roll as the Taipans reasserted their dominance during a commanding 27-17 third term, was capped by Loughton's buzzer-beating triple to put the visitors up 69-50 at the final break.
Childress drilled a three-pointer 10 seconds into the fourth but there was little else to cheer about for the 36ers.
The Taipans, after blowing the difference out to a game-high 22 points, cruised to victory with surprisingly little resistance.
Cairns coach Aaron Fearne was rapt with the way his team was able to respond to two earlier home losses to the Sixers by recording their biggest-ever win in Adelaide.
"They kicked our butts the first game at our place and we played them a bit better the second time and we were a bit better again tonight," Fearne said.
"We just looked a little fresher and sharper than them. We had a gameplan we wanted to go execute and the guys were really good at it."
36ers coach Joey Wright felt his team lacked bite from the outset.
"I don't think we came out and played with the passion that we should have," he said.
"We didn't go out there with the intensity to win. It's disappointing."
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