Top three pull clear as Kings fail in grudge match

Star man ... Patty Mills. Photo: Getty Images

THE cream is rising to the top early in the NBL season, with the top three teams already threatening to break away from the pack.

Champions New Zealand (5-1) and Perth (4-1) added another win, as Melbourne also moved to 4-1 going into last night's home clash with Cairns.

Townsville (2-2) are next, and Perth coach Rob Beveridge acknowledged the top three had started to open up a gap.

''It seems that way at the moment, but you cannot take any team lightly at all,'' Beveridge said. ''I think when everybody gets their [full] team on deck, teams can go on a roll. Right now, OK, there's three teams with only one loss, but there's still going to be teams hovering around that top four mark for sure.''

The Breakers celebrated raising their 2010-11 championship banner with a 99-90 home win over Adelaide (1-4). ''The ceremony was fantastic, of course, and brought a little extra emotion to the occasion,'' coach Andrej Lemanis said.

Sparked by 20 points and eight assists from Patty Mills, Melbourne got as far as 28 ahead of Sydney on their way to a 94-76 away win against the Kings (2-4).

''I was very happy with the way we played, defensively there was some really good patches and offensively the most assists we've had this season,'' Melbourne coach Trevor Gleeson said.

He revealed the Tigers had been spurred by comments from Sydney personnel about Mills and the Tigers' first-round 82-76 victory over the Kings. Mills had no idea what had been said about him, but acknowledged there was an existing rivalry between the two teams. ''There's definitely a grudge there between us both,'' Mills said.

Sydney import Jerai Grant suffered a shoulder injury in the game but team officials are hopeful he will be fit for next Saturday's match in Adelaide.

AAP