The Sydney Kings have survived a dream outing from Illawarra local Lachlan Dent to claim a 106-97 victory and get their NBL title defence to a winning start.
Kings import Derrick Walton Jr scored 30 points, including 11 in the final term, to show why he is considered an MVP contender.
And he had to muster all his NBA experience to douse a Snakepit lit up by some white-hot shooting from a surprise source in Dent.
The second-year guard hit all seven of his shots, including five from long range, to lead his team to a one-point lead late in the final term on Saturday night.
Dent, who finished with 19 points, had 13 in the final quarter alone.
But Walton Jr, stepping into the point guard role vacated by last season's MVP in Jaylen Adams, scored eight in the space of 90 seconds in a tense finish.
The former Detroit Pistons guard finished the night with a game-high 32 points to go with eight assists and four rebounds.
"It felt like he could've gone for 40 if he kept attacking the rim," Kings coach Chase Buford said.
"It's not going to be just Derrick to replace Jaylen.
"I hope we can get to a point soon where we're talking about this year's group and leaving last year behind because it's just a different group.
"The eight assists is probably what you'll see consistently, more than 5-8 (shooting), 30 points every night.
"We'd love to get 30, but it's hard to ask somebody to do that every night.
"The defence, the playmaking, and the shotmaking to go along with it - we'll see that pretty consistently from Derrick, week in, week out."
Walton Jr was backed up by 24 points from captain Xavier Cooks, while former Hawks forward Justin Simon added 19 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Simon's points output was well past the eight he averaged in his one season with the Hawks in 2020/21, where he was a crowd favourite for his defence.
After a close first half, an upset loomed when Illawarra veteran Tim Coenraad helped push his team out to a seven-point lead midway through the quarter.
But Kings guard Dejan Vasiljevic nailed on three straight triples, including one from well beyond the arc, to restore a three-point margin at the final break.
Hawks star Tyler Harvey had 18 points but was 1-7 from distance, however the club would have been buoyed by Dent's breakout performance.
"It felt like I was throwing in the ocean for a second there," Dent said.
"I probably ran out of gas halfway through the fourth. I was looking around to see who else could shoot one.
"But I'd take a win over a loss any day."
