Dejan Vasiljevic, Kendric Davis and Montrezl Harrell all fired as the Adelaide 36ers overcame a slow start in a tough 93-79 win over fellow NBL title contenders Illawarra.
The Sixers faced a double-digit deficit in the opening three minutes at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday but led by quarter-time.
They never trailed from that point, with Vasiljevic (23 points, six rebounds) and Davis (16 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds) taking turns running the show.
Both combined superbly with Sixers barometer Harrell, who finished with a game-high 25 points.
The former NBA big man also provided the highlights with a series of huge dunks.
The result drew Adelaide level with Illawarra on the NBL ladder, both sides with 6-4 records and firmly in playoff contention.
The Sixers enjoyed a 23-4 advantage in fast-break points, and coach Mike Wells was thrilled with his team's defensive intensity, which set up their offence.
"Once we get set and we get into the game, then we become a pretty good team," Wells said.
"Today, like most of our big wins, you start that on the defensive end, and our attention to detail was better.
"We want discipline and disruption, we want to know exactly what everybody's doing, we don't want to make it up.
"We need guys connected and we did that today on the defensive end, which allowed us to run out and run back at them."
Illawarra trailed by just three points with more than seven minutes left, but the result gradually slipped away down the stretch.
Sunday Dech rose from the bench to deliver a pair of huge threes to steady the ship for Adelaide.
Trey Kell (18 points) and Sam Froling (16) top-scored for the Hawks, who have dropped three of their past four games.
Hawks coach Justin Tatum lamented his team's inability to maintain early momentum, and refused to lay blame on a lop-sided free-throw count, which was 30-9 the Sixers' way.
"I guess they just turned it up a little bit and they matched our intensity and then they overcame it," Tatum said.
"The free-throws did not help, but Adelaide came out and played well.
"I guess they did a really good job of drawing fouls and getting us out of defensive position, then being able to dictate the tempo of the game.
"Thirty free-throws is a lot, but I guess they were well-deserved."
Both teams face huge challenges in round nine before the FIBA break.
Illawarra host local rivals the Sydney Kings on Saturday, and Adelaide hit the road to face Melbourne United on Sunday.
