Illawarra have strolled to a clinical NBL 121-87 belting of Brisbane, but their victory was soured by a hamstring injury to import Darius Days.
Days felt tightness in his left hamstring while diving for a loose ball midway through the first quarter of Monday night's clash at Wollongong's WIN Entertainment Centre, by which time he had six points in less than two minutes.
The injury had no impact on the game, though, as the Hawks were completely untroubled, going 35-20 in the first quarter and 35-19 in the third, as they strengthened their grip on top spot.
Sam Froling (17 points) paced an even charge, with six players notching double-digits and two more scoring nine.
Illawarra also racked up a 40-minute record 37 assists - led by Trey Kell's 11 - to just six turnovers.
"A sense of urgency was one thing we wanted to play with," Hawks coach Justin Tatum said.
"I was really satisfied with how our bench played and how we were able to attack the paint."
Keandre Cook (19 points) top-scored for the banged-up Bullets who, already missing seven players, were dealt a massive pre-game blow when their best player Casey Prather failed a fitness test and sat out with an ankle injury.
Big Tohi Smith-Milner sent another scare through the Brisbane camp when he slowly walked off early for treatment on his right foot before returning to the court.
Illawarra hit 15-of-20 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from three-point range in the opening term, before Adams paced a brief Bullets revival to reduce the margin to 39-35 in the second.
It was never remotely close again.
Peatling rattled off 11 points inside five minutes to even up the quarter at 21-all and put the Hawks in front 56-41 at half-time.
Illawarra continued to cut Brisbane to ribbons in the third term, with Froling scoring at will in the paint and Will Hickey creating havoc at both ends.
The margin ballooned to 42 points as the Hawks emptied their bench in the fourth, with 12 of their 13 players used hitting the scoreboard.
"I'm trying not to look at margins," Bullets coach Justin Schueller said after his eighth-ranked team slumped to their fourth loss in 10 days, by a combined 111 points.
"The effort has been there and the intensity measures are as good as any of our big wins this year.
"As we get bodies back, I'm fully confident we'll be able to get this thing going for longer."
