The Sydney Kings' bid for an unprecedented three straight NBL championships got off to the perfect start when they crushed arch-rivals Wollongong 96-73 in game one of the grand final series at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Sydney skipper Jason Smith was the inspiration for the defending champions with a game-high 28 points, while Wollongong had no answer to the inside presence of Rolan Roberts who had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Kings.

For the Hawks it was their worst offensive output of the year as they hit only eight of 32 three-point attempts, with Glen Saville the best with 15 points.

Hawks coach Brendan Joyce will be hoping his shooters find some form before game two in Wollongong on Sunday.

The Hawks started the more nervous of the two teams as the Kings raced out to a 12-0 lead, with back-up centre Cameron Rigby finally getting the Hawks on the board with an offensive rebound almost three minutes into the game.

Kings coached Brian Goorjian called a time out as the visitors clawed their way back into the game to close the margin to five midway through the quarter, and whatever he had to say must have had the desired effect as Sydney regained the ascendancy to take a 27-17 lead into the first break.

It was Wollongong's turn to come out of the gates strong in the second term as they went on a 8-0 run thanks to some strong play from small forward Saville. The Athens Olympian scored four points, dished out an assist and drew a charge on Sydney import Mark Sanford in a sensational five-minute spell.

Ben Knight hit Sydney's first field goal of the term with 7:23 remaining in the period, but Wollongong's smothering defence restricted the Kings to just 3 of 12 shooting for the term.

Down 39-32 with just under two minutes remaining in the period, Wollongong went on a 9-0 run to close out the term, including a Rigby three-pointer on the buzzer to put Wollongong up 41-39 at the main break.

The two teams traded baskets to start the third quarter before Smith took over for the Kings. Showing a true shooter's mentality after missing his first three shots for the period, the two-time Olympian hit his next six shots, two of them from long range, on his way to 16 points for the period to put the home side up 70-62 heading into the last quarter.

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