On a night when the Sydney Kings were trying to show their NBL "three-peat" credentials, it was the ladder-leading Melbourne United who made the statement with the 101-85 victory.
It has been a roller-coaster ride so far this season for the Kings under new coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah as they try to win three straight championships.
They were looking to build on the momentum from beating Cairns to close out 2023 when hosting Melbourne at Qudos Bank Arena on Thursday night, but United are the one team you don't want to face coming off a loss.
Melbourne were stung by a loss in Cairns on New Year's Eve and hit back with a vengeance to continue their month-long road schedule.
And it was their role players who stood tall.
Sydney focused a lot of their attention on trying to deny the shot attempts for Melbourne captain Chris Goulding.
They did well to hold Goulding to nine shots, but United have so many other weapons, even with Luke Travers not hitting the floor.
Point guard duo Matthew Dellavedova (16 points, nine assists, six rebounds) and Shea Ili (19 points, three assists) were outstanding not only with those numbers, but in limiting Sydney star Jaylen Adams to eight points with six turnovers.
Tanner Krebs had a purple patch with three three-pointers in the third quarter on his way to 13 points as United turned a two-point half-time deficit into a 14-point lead by the end of the third.
Melbourne scored 13 straight points just before three-quarter-time, with triples from Kyle Bowen (seven points, seven rebounds, three assists), Krebs and Goulding (16 points, 4-of-6 from deep) to break the game open.
By the time Goulding hit another three early in the fourth, the margin was back out to 13 and Melbourne cruised to the 16-point win to remain out clear on top at 15-4.
Big men Jo Lual-Acuil (12 points, nine rebounds) and Next Star Ariel Hukporti (10 points, six boards) also impressed for the winners.
Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman loved the response from Sunday's loss in Cairns.
"Obviously we weren’t that happy with our performance up in Cairns and firstly wanted to see the response from everybody," he said.
"We really talked about the pace of the game and thought we weren’t taking advantage of what Shea does really well.
"I thought his intent to grab it tonight, to push it up the floor and look for something early or then move it, that was a really good change for us tonight."
Sydney slip to 10-9, having lost three of their past four games ahead of hosting Brisbane on Sunday.
Captain Shaun Bruce delivered 16 points and five assists for the Kings, with Kouat Noi adding 13 points and Jordan Hunter 12 to go with nine rebounds.
Kings coach Abdelfattah said it was the third quarter that turned the game.
"A couple of shots didn’t fall for us on the offensive end and then they got some good looks in transition," he said.
"They went on that run and pushed it to 16 I believe it was, and that just changed the game."
