A worrying knee injury to centre Larry Davidson put a dampener on the Wollongong Hawks' clinical 109-84 dissection of the Perth Wildcats on Saturday night at WIN Entertainment Centre.
The Hawks dominated the Wildcats from start to finish, boosting their record to 9-5 halfway through the 28-game NBL season and reclaiming the outright lead on the ladder.
But celebrations were tempered, with serious concern over Davidson's knee after he limped off the court in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
Full coverage of the Wollongong Hawks The 26-year-old has endured a history of knee problems - he sat out the second half of last season - and the Hawks are crossing their fingers his latest setback is only temporary.
"Larry said he hyper-extended his knee, but you just don't know early," Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod said at the post-match press conference.
"We'll know more in the next 24 hours," McLeod said.
He said he would be guided by what the doctors said. "
Davidson is having a career best season and is crucial to the team's run for the championship.
While McLeod wasn't about to pre-empt a possible stint on the sideline for his starting centre, he expects the Hawks to rally if Davidson faces an injury lay-off.
"The good thing about where our group is going is that everyone challenges everyone," he said.
"Larry is an important part to it, but if he can't play, then that responsibility falls onto the other guys and they've been doing a pretty good job.
"We just have to wait and see with regards to Larry."
Davidson was magnificent in the demolition of the Wildcats, scoring 18 points on 7/10 shooting and ripping down 13 rebounds against 216cm opponent Luke Schenscher, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Hawks had all the answers against the visitors, skipping out to a 32-23 quarter-time lead and boosting it to a commanding 60-42 at half-time with captain Mat Campbell's buzzer-beating three-point bomb.
Outmuscling and outhustling the Cats all over the court, Wollongong were up by 26 at the end of three periods and never looked like allowing Perth back into the contest.
The Hawks hit a blistering 57 per cent of their field goals, including 9/16 from three-point territory.
They made a tidy 16/20 free throws (80 per cent), racked up a season-high 23 assists and pounded the much bigger Wildcats 48-33 under the boards. Forward Cam Tragardh delivered on a pre-game promise to atone for a poor outing in the previous week's road win over New Zealand.
Tragardh came out breathing fire, torching the Cats with 15 points in the opening quarter on the way to a game-high 23. He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
Guard Tywain McKee continued to make a strong case for league MVP honours, toying with the Cats as he tallied 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Campbell finished with 13 points and Glen Saville chipped in seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The constantly improving Wollongong bench was rock solid again, with Dave Gruber (12 points, seven rebounds), Tim Coenraad (eight points, four rebounds) and Rhys Martin (five points, four assists) all playing key roles in the impressive victory.
"Our defence was fantastic. We did a really good job in the effort areas and we disrupted them early and didn't allow them to get to their strengths," McLeod said.
"You look at the contributions we got from a lot of players and that's what we need. That was the key. We got a good start and we got good lift from the bench. Everyone came in and contributed in different areas.
"Our execution at the offensive end got better and better as the game went on. It was probably four of our most consistent quarters all year at both ends of the floor and that's a really pleasing aspect.
"The effort from our bigs on the glass was huge. That's a big team we beat tonight and a very experienced team. The guys did a real good job of disrupting them and playing them at their own game."
The Hawks face a tough weekend road double, taking on Cairns on Friday night and backing up against Gold Coast on Sunday afternoon.
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