Illawarra Hawks Ride McGee, Hickey and Peterson to a Strong Round 8 Win in Cairns

The Illawarra Hawks continued to build some much-needed momentum in their title defence, taking down the Cairns Taipans 107–90 on Friday night behind a dominant showing from their star trio of Davo Hickey, JaVale McGee and QJ Peterson.

Hickey delivered the first triple-double of the NBL season with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in a complete performance at the Cairns Convention Centre.

McGee was unstoppable again inside, finishing with 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting along with six rebounds and two assists. It backed up his 37-point outburst on Wednesday, the highest scoring night of his professional career.

Peterson broke out of his early-season slump with 22 points and hit four of his six attempts from deep. His late bursts at the end of each quarter gave Illawarra the cushion they needed as the lead grew across the night.

Cairns attempted a new approach to slow McGee, going small for long stretches and limiting the minutes of Marcus Lee. The gamble helped in patches, with the Taipans knocking down 10 first-half threes to stay within four at half-time.

Mojave King was the spark, delivering the best game of his career with 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting and six made threes. He kept Cairns in touch before McGee again asserted himself early in the second half, scoring six quick points to reclaim control for the visitors.

Peterson drilled two late triples to close the third quarter as the Hawks pushed the lead to 13. Illawarra then steadied across the final period, weathering Cairns’ last push to secure back-to-back wins and move to 4–6.

The Hawks did it with another quiet night from Tyler Harvey, who finished with 11 points on 1-of-8 shooting from deep. Mason Peatling added 14 points and four assists, while Wani Swaka Lo Buluk again produced strong two-way play.

Despite the loss and the absence of Sam Waardenburg and Reyne Smith, Cairns found positives. Along with King’s standout night, Kyrin Galloway added 15 points and seven rebounds, Jack McVeigh filled the stat sheet with 13 points, eight boards and eight assists, and both imports Admiral Schofield and Andrew Andrews fought hard.

Illawarra started strongly, led 25–22 at the end of the first and never surrendered control once they clicked offensively. McGee and Peterson landed the key blows, while Hickey steered the offence with poise.

The Taipans now have a week to reset before hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix next Friday. The Hawks return home for a big matchup with the Sydney Kings next Sunday in Wollongong.

Final score: Cairns Taipans 90 defeated by Illawarra Hawks 107.