Angus Glover's hot hand has helped South East Melbourne continue their NBL resurgence with a commanding 97-74 win over the last-placed Cairns Taipans.
The Phoenix dominated the first period at John Cain Arena on Sunday as Glover sent down four triples, helping the home side to an early double-digit lead.
They were never headed, with Glover playing a key role in producing a game and career-high 22 points on 64 per cent shooting, including 4-of-7 from long range.
Matt Hurt (15), Jordan Hunter (14) and Nathan Sobey (14) also reached double figures, and import point-guard Derrick Walton Jnr had eight points off the bench on his return from injury.
South East Melbourne (5-7) are now 5-2 since parting ways with coach Mike Kelly after their horror 0-5 start to the season, charging back into finals contention under Josh King.
King paid credit to his players for bouncing back quickly after Friday night's tough road loss to Sydney, saying he was particularly proud of their defensive efforts.
In a telling statistic, the Phoenix produced 27 points off turnovers against Cairns.
"That's something we really emphasise, getting after our opponents on that side of the ball," King said.
"It's simple to say we want to pressure and get after the other time but it's difficult to do.
"It takes a lot of energy and focus and concentration, and I'm really happy with the buy-in from these guys.
"I've only been here for about two weeks and they're all two-feet-in."
The result was a seventh straight defeat for Cairns (3-8), leaving Adam Forde's side struggling at the bottom of the ladder.
Taran Armstrong returned from an ankle sprain for the Taipans, who were without suspended import Rob Edwards, but he couldn't inspire a rare win.
Armstrong looked rusty at times with 11 points on 33 per cent shooting, as well as five turnovers.
Sam Wardenburg (16 points) was dangerous in the first half but went quiet in the second and sat out most of the final quarter after a heavy hit from Phoenix centre Jordan Hunter.
The visitors unravelled midway through the fourth period when starting guard Jonah Antonio was hit with a quickfire pair of technical fouls and tossed out of the game.
The Taipans committed 17 turnovers - many of them unforced.
"It was a bad game," Cairns coach Forde said.
"We had average-looking offence and when we did execute and had wide-open looks, they didn't go in.
"We were sluggish to start each quarter ... but we had a pretty good week (of preparation) so it's kind of a disappointing performance by us."
Wardenburg has a history of concussion and Forde said the Taipans would be cautious with his recovery, mindful this month's FIBA break could give him extra time to regain fitness.
Edwards served a one-game suspension for breaching the league's code of conduct with his actions and comments towards referees after a game against Melbourne United in round six.
