That could well have been the chat in the Hawks locker room after Brian Goorjian's side made a triumphant return to the floor with a 97-89 win over arch-rivals Sydney in Wollongong on Thursday.

It came via an impressive finish after a stunning seven third-quarter turnovers hauled the floundering Kings back into the contest to lead heading into the final quarter.

In the end, a Herculean 27 points and nine rebounds from Sam Froling, and a tidy 23 points at 8-10 from the field from Tyler Harvey proved the difference.

It was the Hawks first outing since December 19, with four subsequent home clashes postponed due to COVID, including the traditional New Years Eve derby against the Kings.

They now belatedly go 2-0 up on their Freeway Series foes, a rivalry that's had spice added by Kings owner Paul Smith's infamous "scumbags" and "idiots" jibe in the lead-up to their first meeting.

The Hawks faithful will now claim bragging rights and relish the chance to see their side in action against defending champions Melbourne United again at the WEC on Sunday.

It takes them to 4-1 on the season, but Goorjian will likely still be pouring over video to analyse another sluggish start that saw his side surrender an 11-0 lead from the jump.

Likewise, the Hawks looked to be pulling away in the third before producing seven of their 12 turnovers for the game in a seven-minute period.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes' 16 points and three assists from the bench were crucial, as as his poise down the strech, though he was the worst offender in the turnovers column with five.

With star big Duop Reath quiet by the standards he's set, Froling fought out an enthralling duel in the paint with Kings marquee man Jarell Martin.

Martin finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Wani Swaka Lo Buluk had 13 of his 17 points in the first half and Xavier Cooks had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Classy guard Jaylen Adams also showed his pedigree, grabbing 14 points and dishing eight dimes while on a tight leash in his return from injury.

Goorjian expected some breakdowns given a lack of time on the floor, but said Froling in a small-ball line-up proved the difference in a 22-11 final term.

"It's been 25 days, there's no excuses coming into this thing, but as a coach and player you're not really sure what's going to happen," Goorjian said.

"I've never done it before so it's new ground and you don't know how it's going to go. One of the things you do know is we're going to be spasmatic playing together.

"It's the same thing with rotations and different guys playing together, we just don't have a feel for that yet. The areas we broke down in, going into the game, was definitely expected.

"The areas in question, our defence, the energy, the communication on the floor, playing hard up or down... I thought we were tremendous there.

"Sam was having a great one tonight so we went with him and the four smalls in the fourth quarter. That was really the game-changer and the winner, getting Tyler and Xavier on the floor together with Justinian and AC (Antonius Cleveland).

"That was a really tough line-up and that was really the turning point and what led to the victory."

The Hawks were slow out of the blocks, letting the guests shoot out to an 11-0 lead before producing an 11-zip run of their own en route to six-point quarter-time lead.

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Martin had six of his team's first 13 points, while Adams had a quick four dimes before a triple and transition bucket from Cleveland stemmed the bleeding for the hosts.

It sparked an 11-4 run to bring the Hawks back into the game that was halted when RJ Hunter went down clutching at his left knee.

It halted proceedings to the Hawks advantage, with Harvey dropping back-to-back threes on play resuming to take his side's first lead. It was the exclamation point on a 19-6 run that forced Buford into a timeout with three minutes left in the quarter.

Rathan-Mayes had consecutive buckets to finish with six for the quarter, with Harry Froling contributing four more from the bench at Hawks led by six at the first break.

Vasiljevic and Adams both drained threes on a 14-2 run to start the second term, forcing Goorjian to burn a timeout.

It didn't little to calm the mastercoach, who was teed up following the third of three offensive fouls calls against the Hawks in under four minutes of the term.

Tactical or not, it worked a treat, with Harvey and Jessup both draining triples on a 10-0 run to re-take a four-point lead. Buluk kept his perfect night from downtown going with his third triple to finish the half with 13 points.

Sam Froling also moved to double figures with a pair of deep twos to take a slender one-point lead to the halftime break.

The younger Froling kept things rolling with a three to open the third, with Harvey chiming in with a pair from deep. Reath had a quick four as the hosts quickly grabbed an eight-point cushion.

It looked like the hosts could be pulling away, but a swag of turnovers invited the Kings back into it, Martin gleefully accepting with 11 points for the term.

Cooks also got going with seven points as the Kings went back ahead on a three from Tom Vodanovich that saw the visitors take the lead into the final term.

The hosts got back in front on three from Rathan-Mayes and Cleveland to begin the fourth, Buford calling an early timeout.

It did little to slow the Hawks, who went ahead by nine on a 10-0 run with two and a half minutes remaining. It was enough, with the small-ball line-up closing the show to seal an important win.

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