Kendric Davis will finally be able to sleep at night after guiding the Adelaide 36ers to a 111-94 defeat of the New Zealand Breakers that snaps their four-game NBL losing streak.
The American guard outplayed Parker Jackson-Cartwright in a duel of star imports, helping the Sixers celebrate Montrezl Harrell's return from the ban he incurred over a courtside melee with fans.
Davis (36 points, nine assists) shot three of his side's seven three-pointers for Saturday's second quarter as the Sixers punished their visitors for a leaky zone defence that left the corners open.
Nick Marshall pitched in three triples in the second quarter, after which the Sixers never trailed.
The Breakers did close to one point during the third quarter on the back of highly touted 17-year-old Karim Lopez (12 points, six rebounds), whose one-handed dunk in transition stunned the crowd.
But a Davis three-pointer restored what was then a game-high 13-point lead as the final four minutes approached, all but sealing the Breakers' fate.
The performance continued a strong fortnight for Davis since returning from the two-game ban he received for the same melee that rubbed out Harrell.
"It was super tough watching the guys go out there and struggle. I kind of felt like I let the team down with my emotions a bit," Davis said.
"I was at home feeling bad."
But Davis, who has scored 73 points across his past two games, can now rest easy.
"As long as we get the win, I get to sleep at night, because when we lost last game I could (not) care less about the 37 (points), I was just mad we gave that game away," he said.
"I don't do well after losses. I can't sleep, I'm just up thinking, so I'm glad we got the win."
Jackson-Cartwright bounced back from a tough night in his side's last loss to finish with 25 points and eight assists.
But the MVP candidate could not prevent the Kiwi side from falling to a sixth consecutive loss, with next week's home clash with the Sydney Kings shaping as a must-win.
"We need some pride, some individual pride to get some stops," Breakers coach Petteri Koponen said.
"Some of it is because there are some new things, so no repetitions, we still don't have those habits. But some of this is also individual, me against you.
"This we need to get better and fix, otherwise it's going to be a long season."
The Breakers were on the back foot almost from the tip-off. Starter Jonah Bolden picked up two fouls inside 35 seconds, heading to the bench and forcing the front-court rotation off balance.
Harrell (21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) cashed in and helped neutralise Breakers import Tacko Fall, who is still searching for his breakout NBL game.
Harrell linked up with Davis effectively all night and threw down a two-handed dunk out of a Breakers timeout that was a particular highlight in the third quarter.
The American was ever the showman, celebrating one basket by lying on the ground and mimicking a swimmer.
But he'd have been disappointed with his form from the free-throw line, hitting only five of his 10 attempts, one of which missed the ring entirely.
