With star rookie LaMelo Ball was a conspicuous absence, the Hawks never looked like springing the upset despite a game first quarter that saw the scores locked at 24 apiece.

It was as far as the resistance went with the hosts leading by 12 at halftime and never ceding a double-digit margin en route to a breezy 101-91 victory on their home floor.

Lamar Patterson led the Bullets with 19 points and six assists, while Jason Cadee had 18 points and Matt Hodgson (14 points) and Nathan Sobey (14) were the other Bullets in double figures.

With Ball missing, Angus Glover's 17 points and six assists in a breakout display was the silver lining for Flinn, with Todd Blanchfield also chipping in 17 points.

Sunday Dech had 14 points while AJ Ogilvy had 11 points and 11 boards in a double-double but the Hawks seem unlikely to continually test NBL opposition without some added import class.

Ball, and the reported "sore foot" that kept him out of Saturday's clash, will be monitored ahead of next Monday's home clash with Melbourne United one that shapes as newly signed import Darington Hobson's debut.

Both sides traded baskets throughout an end-to-end first quarter, the biggest gap for either side a tight three points, the hosts claiming that buffer early on the back of four quick points from EJ Singler.

Dech dropped the first three of the match and Patterson fired back with the scores locked at 11 apiece midway through the term.

Cadee fired his first triple when injected from the bench before four quick points to Blanchfiled and a tip-in from Boone prompted Andrej Lemanis to call time with the Hawks leading 19-16.

Taylor Braun had a three out of the stoppage and a three-point play from Vukona gave the hosts the lead before Josh Boone levelled things at 24 apiece when he went a rare two of two from the line with seconds left in the term.

Sobey broke a two-minute scoring drought from the line in a messy start to to the second term from both sides before Patterson took momentum for the hosts with a triple and neat step-back from mid-range.

The Bullets went ahead on a triple from Singler and Sobey grabbed the biggest lead of the game when he stretched it to five from the stripe. Cadee grabbed his second three on a 10-0 run that forced Flinn into a timeout at 40-30 down.

Glover and Cam Gliddon traded threes but the Bullets took a 12-point cushion to the main break on the back of a late slam from Hodgson. Patterson had three quick buckets on a 8-4 run that put the Bullets' lead out to 14 midway through the third.

A four-point play from Tim Coenraad briefly pegged it back to 11 but when Gliddon and Cadee answered a three from Blanchfield with a pair of bombs themselves the margin shot back out to 15.

Glover kept things ticking over with an and-one and anther transition lay-up en route to his career high but the hosts took a comfortable 14-point cushion to the final break.

It saw the final term effectively played out as junktime, though Flinn could find a semblance of solace in the fight shown by his younger crop on an otherwise forgettable evening.