With both sides fighting for fourth place, the 36ers and particularly Drmic showed more hunger against the fourth-placed Bullets at Brisbane Convention Centre.

Drmic came off the bench to score 10 of his 12 points in the last quarter, including three triples to sink the home side.

His desperate steal on Brisbane guard Jason Cadee created the possession flow to start his spree of three-pointers.

"If anybody deserves it, he does. He's been stressing so much," Adelaide coach Joey Wright said.

"Drmic's so emotional. Everything he thinks, he says. Most players would have a little bit of that going on in (his head). He just says it.

"He's pretty transparent. I'm happy for him because he's been working hard."

Point guard Nathan Sobey was steadied the 36ers, scoring a game-high 24 points.

The 36ers responded with fierce, but measured, intent as the game heated up towards the end of the first half.

"I liked the conversations that I heard, when they were making their run," Wright said.

"They were conversations I hadn't heard this year."

The Bullets lacked finishing power after starting the final quarter on even terms. Lamar Patterson (24 points) and Cameron Bairstow (20) could have done with some help.

Having beaten champions Melbourne United in their past two starts, the Bullets had been regarded as favourites.

The 36ers rattled the home side in the first half. The Bullets lost some grunt without veteran forward Mika Vukona (calf).

"It showed tonight how much we miss our emotional leader in Mika Vukona. He gives such a punch off the bench,'' coach Andrej Lemanis said.

"He's our best plus-minus guy as an individual, so lacking his punch tonight and driving that defensive energy and grunt, that showed tonight.

"With Mika out of the rotation, that just threw us out a little bit.''

Lemanis said while Drmic's three-pointers "busted the game open", Brisbane's dip in defensive intensity was more to blame.

"We did some things to add to our own demise. I'm not sure that we were where we needed to be as a collective,'' Lemanis said.

"I've used the term before, morphic resonance - it's about working as a unit and having a complete understanding of what we are trying to achieve as a group, as opposed to five individuals all trying hard but not necessarily connected."

Australian Associated Press