South East Melbourne have left bottom-placed Illawarra's NBL title defence in ruins, annihilating the Hawks 116-76 at John Cain Arena.
Angus Glover led a long-range assault on Saturday night, coming off the bench to fire a career-high 26 points, 23 coming in a blistering opening two quarters.
The home side knocked down 15-of-28 from downtown in the first half, with Glover contributing 7-of-8, to blow the last-placed Hawks (1-4) away.
Skipper Nathan Sobey scored 21 points for the fifth-placed Phoenix (3-2).
"We needed a response from a poor outing (17-point loss to Adelaide on Thursday)," SEM coach Josh King said.
"We won all four quarters - that was my favourite part.
"We stayed consistent throughout the game and didn't have any slippage or let-up."
Towering JaVale McGee (22 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks) was the only Illawarra player to make any impression.
There was no sign of the carnage to come when the Hawks, paced by McGee, made the early running.
The superstar American centre was everywhere, following his rejection of Jordan Hunter's three-point attempt by tip-jamming his own miss at the other end, then finishing a coast-to-coast drive with a crafty spin hook.
McGee had 10 points in the opening term as the visitors moved ahead 16-13, before Glover subbed on and splashed back-to-back triples.
He had 11 for the term as SEM drew clear 30-23 at quarter-time.
It got worse for Illawarra in the second stanza as Glover and Sobey spearheaded a 16-0 burst amid an overall 22-2 run.
The Phoenix dominated the quarter 36-17 to hold sway 66-40 at halftime.
The hosts' hot shooting cooled after the long break but their defence ramped up.
Glover hit his eighth trey then blocked Todd Blanchfield's drive to see South East Melbourne in complete control, up 83-52 at three-quarter time.
McGee fouled out early in the fourth as the relentless Phoenix motored clear by 47 points late.
The two team's assist-to-turnover ratio told the story - SEM with 22 assists to seven turnovers and the Hawks with an unacceptable eight to 25.
"We walk away very disappointed," Hawks captain Tyler Harvey said.
"As players it's our job to perform on the court and we didn't do it tonight.
"This league is tough. If you come out lax, you're going to get your butt kicked."