Adelaide have emphatically snapped a four-match NBL losing streak by belting Illawarra 104-79.
Another defeat looked on the cards on Saturday afternoon at Titanium Security Arena, where the 36ers trailed by up to 12 points in a listless opening term before demolishing the Hawks 58-32 across the middle two quarters.
Daniel Johnson, Nathan Sobey, Anthony Drmic and Jacob Wiley all notched 16 points in an even display, while new Adelaide import Demetrius Conger had his moments against his old club.
Todd Blanchfield (24 points, 11 rebounds) waged a solo vigil for the visitors, who flew to a 13-2 head start en route to a 30-21 quarter-time buffer before being swamped.
Thanks largely to Brendan Teys' hustling defence and Anthony Drmic's slick shooting, the 36ers outscored Illawarra 27-16 in the second stanza to move ahead 48-46 at halftime.
A spectacular Ramone Moore alley-oop to Wiley had the crowd on their feet in the third stanza, which erupted when Illawarra's import guard Jordair Jett and Adelaide big man Harry Froling tangled by the Hawks' bench while fighting for a loose ball.
Jett copped an unsportsmanlike foul and resounding boos for the rest of the game after shoving Froling, who went flying into unsuspecting Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge.
Blanchfield and Majok Deng both were handed technical fouls for their involvement.
Johnson closed the third quarter with a powerful last-second dunk to help the Sixers extend their advantage to 79-62.
The hosts, back to their brilliant, running best, continuing to press home their advantage in the fourth and improve their win-loss record to 4-6.
Adelaide coach Joey Wright felt a lift in defensive intensity sparked his side's second-quarter turnaround.
"In the first quarter, we had some good looks but just missed them," he said.
"After the first quarter, defensively, we picked it up."
Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge felt his charges were made to pay for committing 19 turnovers, which set the Sixers' run into motion.
"If you turn the ball over, they penalise you - and that's exactly what happened," he said.
"We turned it over way too much. We didn't rebound well enough at all - it was really bad - and that allowed them to run."