It was the battle of the last two NBL champions but it was the Sydney Kings who continued the hot start to their championship defence keeping the Illawarra Hawks winless to open NBL27 with the 121-100 victory.

On the back of last Sunday's 111-90 win also at Afterpay Arena against the Cairns Taipans, the Kings were looking to remain unbeaten to start NBL27 with the Hawks arriving still hunting a first win after losses to the New Zealand Breakers and Brisbane Bullets.

The Hawks were decimated in their front court too having parted ways with championship import Darius Days and with Mason Peatling and Todd Blanchfield out injured, and the Kings showed they are well prepared early in their title defence.

It was an offensive onslaught from Sydney with 31 points in the first quarter, 34 in the second, 33 in the third and 23 in the fourth as they ended up shooting 56 per cent from the field with 10/25 from the outside and 27/32 at the foul line.

The Hawks had no answers and while they did shoot 51 per cent from the floor and 37 from downtown, they went to the free-throw 15 fewer times going 13/17.

Sydney pulled down 16 offensive rebounds to seven as well with Championship Series MVP Kendric Davis starring with 31 points, six assists and four rebounds in 28 minutes.

Makuach Maluach went 6/6 from the floor and 4/4 at the stripe for 19 points and four rebounds with Torrey Craig delivering 20 points on 8/11 shooting, and Xavier Cooks eight points, four rebounds and two assists.

Andrew Carr chimed in with six points, 12 rebounds and two blocks with Harry Wessels adding six points and two rebounds, and Matthew Dellavedova five points and five assists.

Will Johnston also added a punch off the bench with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.

It was rough going for the Hawks as they fall to 0-3 with Sam Froling ending up with 21 points in game 201, Kelan Martin 21 points and seven rebounds, and Kyle Adnam 17 points with 3/6 three-point shooting.

Tyler Harvey had all 12 of his points in the first half while Milton Doyle was done with nine points and six assists when he fouled out just over three minutes into the third quarter.

It was a high-scoring and entertaining battle in the first quarter with no more than five points separating the two teams with the Kings ending up leading 31-27 by quarter-time.

Kendric Davis already had 10 points for Sydney and Torrey Craig nine with them shooting 14/20 from the field while Sam Froling had 10 points for the Hawks and Tyler Harvey nine while they were shooting 12/19.

The Kings were able to keep their offensive flow going in the second quarter with another 34 points on 11/20 shooting while going 10/14 at the foul line.

They also got their teeth in defensively to limit Illawarra to 18 points on 7/15 shooting and into another seven turnovers to have 12 by half-time.

That saw Sydney leading 65-45 by half-time and then things took a turn for the worse for the Hawks with Milton Doyle picking up a technical foul just as he was starting to warm up offensively.

That was his fifth foul of the game so his night was done early and coach Justin Tatum also was teed up shortly after with Sydney piling on another 33 points to 26 to be leading 98-71 by three quarter-time.

The Hawks might have 29 points to 23 in the fourth quarter but it was only wallpaper over the cracks with the Kings winning by 21.

The Kings remain at home to host the Brisbane Bullets on Wednesday night while the Hawks play their first game at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday against the Adelaide 36ers.

SYDNEY KINGS 121 – ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100

Sydney Kings
Kendric Davis – 31 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds
Torrey Craig – 20 points, 3 rebounds
Makuach Maluach – 19 points, 4 rebounds, 6/6 FG
Will Johnston – 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Xavier Cooks – 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Illawarra Hawks
Kelan Martin – 21 points, 7 rebounds
Sam Froling – 21 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Kyle Adnam – 17 points, 3/6 3PT
Tyler Harvey – 12 points, 4 assists
Milton Doyle – 9 points, 6 assists

Chris Pike

Kings hammer depleted Hawks