The Illawarra Hawks are in danger of not even making the playoffs after going down to the last-placed Cairns Taipans.

After registering a 113-109 overtime win over South-East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday night, the Hawks looked like they were finally clicking into top gear.

But the NBL champions put in arguably their worst performance of the season on their home court on Saturday to go down 93-76 to Cairns.

They are now in eighth spot on the ladder with a 5-10 record and their chances of defending their title appear remote.

They were on level terms at 20-20 after the first quarter against the Taipans but a 29-14 second term meant they trailed by 15 at the main break.

The Hawks went shot for shot with Cairns in the third quarter but were unable to bridge the gap despite 17 points and 11 rebounds from star centre JaVale McGee.

Illawarra captain Will Hickey contributed 10 points, seven assists and 11 rebounds in a typically busy performance while bench forward Dan Grida stepped up with 18 points in just 10 minutes of game time.

Cairns were undermanned, without Jack McVeigh, Sam Waardenburg and Reyne Smith, but produced their best effort for the season.

They nearly threw away what turned out to be their win over the Phoenix.

The Hawks led 31-13 after the first break but after making slight inroads over the next two quarters, South-East Melbourne stormed home with a 32-19 run in the final term.

Illawarra regained their shooting touch in the overtime period with import guard QJ Peterson pouring in a season-high 42 points to complement McGee’s 29 points and 13 rebounds.

They are back in action on Thursday night against Brisbane Bullets at WIN Entertainment Centre.

The Bullets (5-11) have a similar record so the Hawks cannot afford to lose to the other team below them on the ladder.

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