A scintillating second-half shooting display from Cortez Groves has handed the Crazy John's South Dragons a 106-95 victory over the West Sydney Razorbacks at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on Wednesday night. (Click HERE for full box scores.)
Groves dropped 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting including 7-of-11 from long range, with 23 of the star import's points coming in the second half.
The Dragons led throughout the first half before the Razorbacks, led by import Troy DeVries (26 points), took the ascendancy early in the third quarter.
But West Sydney had no answer for Groves, who awoke from his first-half scoring slumber to steal the advantage and claim his side's third win of the HUMMER Championship season.
Injured playing-coach Shane Heal said it was Groves' efforts at the defensive end that proved the difference.
"I look at Cortez's game and I look at the way he played defence and I thought that really started it for us and I think everyone else jumped on board," Heal said.
"He's the most dominant offensive player in the league, we've got no doubt about that but I thought tonight he was really patient, waiting for it."
"When the game was there to be won it was three (pointer) after three (pointer) and it certainly makes your job a whole lot easier when you're on the sideline and you've got someone making threes like that."
The Dragons led all the way in the opening term, import Bakari Hendrix proving a handful with nine points off assists, and Jacob Holmes with six points from 3-of-3 shooting.
Sharp-shooter DeVries led the hosts with six points while the league's leading scorer Darnell Hinson was kept scoreless for the quarter.
Having led by as many as eight points at one stage the Dragons took a 27-20 lead into the first break.
The Dragons extended their advantage to nine points early in the second quarter as a lethargic West Sydney struggled to find any rhythm.
DeVries kept the hosts in the contest with 10 second-quarter points while Hinson, remarkably, remained scoreless for the half.
The visitors continued to score with ease on the inside with Hendrix (13 points) and Holmes (12 points on 6-of-7 shooting) leading the way to send their team into the main break with a 52-46 advantage.
A 5-0 run to start the half saw the Razorbacks close to within a point inside a minute.
The tide continued to turn the way of the hosts who took their first lead of the contest after three minutes of action.
West Sydney extended its lead to seven points as DeVries continued to dominate but an 11-0 run late in the quarter saw the Dragons reclaim the lead at the final break, 80-76.
The NBL's second top scorer Groves came to life in the third stanza, dropping 14 points including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Both teams must back up on Friday night with the Razorbacks (6-5) to face cross-town rivals the Sydney Kings while the Dragons (3-7) will host the Gold Coast Blaze.
South Dragons 106 (Groves 29, Hendrix 24, Holmes 16)
West Sydney Razorbacks 95 (DeVries 26, Petrie 17, Rush 16)
Crowd 1902 @ Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre