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The Illawarra Hawks bubble was burst in emphatic fashion by a clinical Tasmania JackJumpers side in Wollongong on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors continued their dominance over a Hawks outfit they've lost to only once in eight games.
Their 100-89 victory at WIN Entertainment Centre was built on solid defence and brilliant rebounding, especially on the offensive end.
Justin Tatum's Hawks have little time to dwell on the loss, with Illawarra to play the Kings in Sydney in a Christmas Day blockbuster.
They head into Monday's game with a 5-9 win/loss record.
The JackJumpers did well to end the term on a 15-3 run to lead 23-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Will Magnay (6 points), Jordan Crawford (5)and Milton Doyle (4) led the way for the visitors, who also out-rebounded the Hawks 18-6 in the term.
Crawford then went to work early in the second, adding another seven points to his personal tally as Tasmania extended their lead to 34-14 with 7.16 left in the second term, forcing Illawarra interim coach Justin Tatum to call a time-out.
Crawford remained hot for the rest of the term, finishing the half with 18 points and four rebounds to propel the JackJumpers to a 51-30 halftime lead.
The efficient Magnay was next best for Tasmania with 11 points and six rebounds.
Tasmania were also dominating the boards, out-rebounding the Hawks 31-14 and making 50 per cent of their shots.
The visitors were particularly good from behind the three-point arc, shooting at a 61 per cent clip in draining 13 of their 21 three-point attempts.
Illawarra only made 12 of their 33 shots and only Tyler Harvey managed to reach double figures finishing the half with 10 points, two assists and two rebounds.
Sam Froling (17 points and 10 rebounds) came alive in the third term and reduced the margin to 13 points at one stage but time and again Tasmania found ways to score and went to the final change 73-56 to the good.
Gary Clark also found his shooting touch in the quarter with 16 points but the JackJumpers suffocated the Hawks defensively and again made the most of their second shot opportunities from banging the board.
Froling was the Hawks' best with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Clark (18 points and three assists) and Harvey (12 points and five assists) were the only other Hawks to reach double figures in scoring.
Crawford was big for Tasmania wth 20 points but he had plenty of scoring support with five of his team-mates, Clint Steindl (15 points), Magnay (13), Sean Macdonald (11), Jack McVeigh (11) and Majok Deng (10) also scoring 10 or more points.
But the tale of the tape was definitely on the boards, with the JackJumpers out-rebounding the Hawks 46-33.
This played a big part considering both teams shot the ball at an impressive 50 per cent clip.
More to come