Humphries fires as 36ers open account

Isaac Humphries found some form, DJ Vasiljevic once again torched his favourite opponents and the Adelaide 36ers opened their account while inflicting more pain on the South East Melbourne Phoenix with a 93-83 win.

Both teams arrived at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to open NBL Round 3 winless and it was the Sixers in their home opener who started impressively with both big men Humphries and Montrezl Harrell (14 points, 11 rebounds) in the starting line-up.

The 36ers controlled the contest from there leading by as much as 20 points in the first half to get their first win under new coach Mike Wells with Humphries (22 points, six rebounds) and Vasiljevic (22 points, three assists) playing starring roles.

"The fans were just awesome and the guys were dialled into the details," Wells said.

"DJ (Vasiljevic) made some shots early, Ice (Humphries) got rolling, Kendric got playing and things rolled downhill for us a little bit."

It's another tough blow for the Phoenix who slip to 0-4 to start NBL25 on the back of a wooden spoon finish last season despite the best efforts of import forward Matt Hurt with 32 points.

He went 11/21 from the field and 4/9 from deep, but the rest of the team went just 19/56 and 3/23 from deep including Derrick Walton Jr shooting 5/16 for 10 points and 11 assists, and Nathan Sobey 4/12 for nine points.

"That first half they jumped on us," Phoenix coach Mike Kelly said.

"Anytime you give up 52 points in a half, unless you're scoring freely yourself, it's going to be difficult."

Vasiljevic and Humphries were active from the opening tip, steering the hosts to a 7-1 start which developed into a 25-16 lead when exciting import Harrell threw down a monster putback dunk on the quarter-time siren.

The Phoenix connected on just 30 per cent from the floor and 11 per cent from three-point territory in the opening term, before their struggles continued in the second, repeatedly undone by Vasiljevic's shooting, Humphries' inside work and Kendric Davis' (21 points, seven assists) playmaking.

Hurt waged a solo vigil as the Sixers sprinted further clear with a 27-19 second period.

Vasiljevic started the third quarter with a corner three, shortly before South East Melbourne centre Jordan Hunter chalked up his fourth foul, as the margin ballooned to 20 points.

Harrell and Phoenix enforcer Tom Vodanovich were whistled for a double tech for engaging in push-and-shove late in the third term, before 36ers head of high performance Nik Popovic was ejected at the start of the final quarter for stepping onto the court during the melee.

Spearheaded by Hurt, Phoenix rallied to trim the gap to 13 points at three quarter-time and single digits in the fourth but a miracle comeback was never a realistic prospect.

The 36ers have a short turnaround to now head to Wollongong to face the undefeated Illawarra Hawks on Saturday.

The Phoenix don't play again until hosting the Brisbane Bullets next Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

ADELAIDE 36ERS 93 (Vasiljevic 22, Humphries 22, Davis 21)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 83 (Hurt 32, Lewis 14, Walton Jr 10)

BOX SCORE