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TASMANIA JackJumpers leapt out of the blocks, setting a bunch of NBL records when big-time basketball returned to the island on Friday, a record attendance watching their 83-74 overtime win over Brisbane.

The biggest attendance at an NBL game on the Apple Isle - a very impressive 4,738 fans, including Richmond AFL premiership forward Jack Reiwoldt, saw their new franchise start its life with a gritty victory.

And since the NBL tipped off in 1979 - not 2014 - the match marked the first time a season has opened with an overtime game.

Elsewhere Perth opened with two comfortable home wins and Matthew Dellavedova's much-anticipated NBL debut ended with a late United rally but with Sydney getting the chocolates, Violet Crumbles apparently.

 

 

ROUND ONE

 

 

TASMANIA's win over Brisbane came largely on the basis of a dreadful unsportsmanlike foul call against Brisbane's Nathan Sobey inside the final two minutes of overtime.

Sobey (24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) hit a massive corner 3-pointer to send the game beyond regulation at 69-69 and as Brisbane pulled 73-71 clear, the fairytale finish most non-Bullets fans were craving seemed unlikely.

Then came the heinous USF, after which Sobey lost his cool, swearing his disgust at referee Vaughan Mayberry who then had no alternative but to issue the technical foul.

Sobey, who appeared to be fouled on a wayward 3-point attempt a minute earlier, then was called for a soft defensive foul, allowed his agitation to get the best of him and Brisbane paid the price.

Tasmania finished the game on a 12-1 run, including huge buckets from Sam McDaniel and Jack McVeigh and an impressive display by Josh Magette with 19 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 83 (Adams 20, Magette 19, Magnay 10; Magnay 10 rebs; Magette 6 assts) d BRISBANE BULLETS 74 (Sobey 24, Franks 19, Patterson 10; Harrison, Franks 11 rebs; Patterson 6 assts) at The AntHill, MyState Bank Arena. Attendance: 4,738

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DOWN starters Mitch Norton and Todd Blanchfield, and also new import face Michael Frazier, Perth instead turned to Vic Law to make a statement and he certainly did!

His 37 points, only 30 more than 36ers' debuting import Todd Withers, came at 55 per cent, the Wildcats also overcoming a 37-46 rebounding deficit which was a lot worse until late when the Sixers ran out of petrol.

Star 36ers shooter Dusty Hannahs may have been trying too hard, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting and while Withers only took four shots, he grabbed 11 boards and looked more promising than his numbers.

Law simply had his way with the 36ers, his first step too quick for Cam Bairstow, Bryce Cotton and Luke Travers also major contributors as the Wildcats started to break away late in the third period.

Daniel Johnson (22 points) visibly tired, his fatigue-influenced decision-making late marring his perfomance, Adelaide missing the stability of Sunday Dech (quad), but drawing the usual all-round effort from Mitch McCarron (7 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists).

PERTH WILDCATS 85 (Law 37, Cotton 16, Travers 15; Majok 12 rebs; Cotton 5 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 73 (Johnson 22, Bairstow 15, Hannahs 10; Withers 11 rebs; McCarron 9 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Attendance: 11,950

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ZHOU Qi made a huge first impression when he subbed in to help South East Melbourne collect a comfortable 89-65 home win at New Zealand's expense.

Qi's impact was so impactful, the new Crossover TV show even altered his name!

Xavier Munford, with 27 points at 61 per cent, 4-of-6 threes, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, was also impressive as Phoenix put this away with a 27-12 second quarter.

Dane Pineau was a rebounding fiend early, Mitch Creek was his usual self and Ryan Broekhoff opened the game with its first bucket to indicate better times ahead.

Down coach Dan Shamir (COVID protocols which laid him up with a fever for 10 days), New Zealand relied heavily on Finn Delany (18 points, 9 boards) but truly was never again in this after leading 11-10.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 89 (Munford 27, Creek 19, Gliddon 9; Pineau, Munford 7 rebs; Munford 5 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 65 (Delany 18, Siva 11, Galloway, Besson10; Delany 9 rebs; Martin 4 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 3,453

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WHEN Adelaide strung together a 12-0 run to go from 4-11 down to 16-11 up, NBL life in the city of churches looked to be on the rise.

Sadly for the 36ers, it was another Sunday, Bloody Sunday, and with Sunday Dech (quad) still missing, once Tyler Harvey had the Hawks rolling, the end result was inevitable.

Aided by a 12-1 turnover count at halftime and already ahead 40-35, Illawarra opened the third period peeling off 13 unanswered points and the Sixers were at sevens from there to the finish.

Suddenly Xavier Rathan-Mayes stepped up, around, out and through the 36ers defenders for a 15-point second half and all that positive early work by Isaac Humphries was lost in the rearview mirror.

While Illawarra went from strength-to-strength, the body language of the beaten 36ers was troubling toward the end.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 81 (Reath 18, Jessup 17, Rathan-Mayes, Harvey 15; Reath 9 rebs; Harvey 6 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 71 (Bairstow 15, Humphries 13, Johnson, McCarron 12; Withers 13 rebs; Bairstow, McCarron 4 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 4,802

* * *

MISSING Chris Goulding and David Barlow, Melbourne was in for a long afternoon in Sydney, though it didn't look so early as ex-King Brad Newley opened the scoring and had United off to a positive start.

That ended abruptly with a 22-10 second period by the Kings, who stretched their lead out as far as 21 points as Melbourne struggled for consistent winners.

Matthew Dellavedova (9 points on 3-of-11 shooting, 0-of-5 threes, 1 rebound, 6 assist, 2 steals) would have been hoping for a stronger NBL debut but United finished the third quarter cutting the deficit to 12.

With Mason Peatling's work rate high, incredibly United trimmed the deficit back to three before Sydney preserved its opening round W, import Jaylen Adams its stand-out.

SYDNEY KINGS 79 (Adams 15, Hunter, Martin 12, Cooks 10; Adams 9 rebs; Cooks 6 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 74 (Lual-Acuil 12, Agada 11, Okwera 10; Peatling 8 rebs; Dellavedova 6 assts) at Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 8,632

* * *

A TYPICAL 16-point third quarter by Bryce Cotton, en route to 31 for the game, ensured Perth would endure few complications seeing off Cairns Taipans 90-67 in the Jungle.

The Taipans gave it their best shot in the opening quarter to lead 21-16 at the first break.

But after that the Wildcats steadily overwhelmed them, Kyle Zunic with a career-best 13 points and Luke Travers snaring his career-high of 14 rebounds.

Sadly, none of this was unexpected.

PERTH WILDCATS 90 (Cotton 31, Law 14, Zunic 13, Wagstaff 10; Travers 14 rebs; Cotton 5 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 67 (Noi 17, Mccall 16, Zimmerman 14; Zimmerman 14 rebs; Machado 6 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 10,800

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WHAT WE LEARNT
*Adelaide is a work-in-progress and Dusty Hannahs has started the season shooting like Daryl Hannah;
*Brisbane may have released its primary foul machine but still has serious discipline issues in a crisis;
*Cairns is worse than anticipated;
*Illawarra is even deeper and better than predicted;
*Melbourne will be in the playoff mix when it has its full lineup back and healthy;
*New Zealand will only get better from here;
*Perth showed us the real Vic Law and has barely missed a beat;
*South East Melbourne is very much in the title race;
*Sydney snuck out of trouble it never should have been in;
*Tasmania is better than anticipated;
*Scott Roth could be your benevolent grandpa.
*If you tuned in a minute late for the Perth-Adelaide game to see Matt Hodgson sitting down, you’re forgiven if you thought he was in foul trouble.

* * *

QUOTE of the WEEK

"You're f---ing terrible."

Bullets' Tokyo Olympian Nathan Sobey lets referee Vaughan Mayberry know what he - and virtually every unbiased viewer - thought after copping a blatantly absurd unsportsmanlike foul with 1:57 left in overtime against Tasmania.

"I'm sorry to be the one to break the news, but you two need to leave."