A powerful second quarter propelled South East Melbourne Phoenix to a clinical 102-85 NBL victory against the Adelaide 36ers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The Phoenix pummelled the Sixers 28-14 in the second term on Thursday night to put the game out of the home side’s reach.

Mitch Creek (23 points) led the Phoenix’s charge, import guards Gary Browne (19 points, eight assists) and Will Cummings (18 points) did as they pleased, while Alan Williams (15 points, 13 rebounds) was influential in his first game of the season following a knee injury.

“We were trading baskets until that second five minutes of the second quarter when the guys got multiple stops in a row and kept scoring freely,” Phoenix coach Mike Kelly said.

“That was the difference right there, that five-minute patch.”

Mitch Creek. (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)

Import Trey Kell (21 points) top-scored for Adelaide, while Dejan Vasiljevic, signed by the 36ers from the Sydney Kings only 48 hours earlier, had 17 points on debut with his new club.

Vasiljevic was prolific early, firing 10 attempts and scoring 10 points in the first quarter.

At the other end, Browne racked up nine points and four assists in the opening period, which ended with scores tied at 28-28.

Vasiljevic’s third triple gave Adelaide a slender 40-39 lead, before the visitors rattled off the next 15 points and led 54-42 at half-time.

After Browne led Phoenix’s early charge, it was fellow imports Williams and Cummings who, in the second stanza, troubled the Sixers, who looked all at sea offensively and passive defensively.

After Phoenix’s lead ballooned to 17 points midway through the third, experienced 36ers reserves Sunday Dech and Jason Cadee helped the home side briefly trim the deficit to single digits.

But their hard work was undone when Creek, who helped himself to 13 points for the term, drained an uncontested three on the three-quarter-time buzzer to push Phoenix out to 77-65, before Williams and Browne continued on their merry way in the fourth.

“Disappointing – that’s what that was,” Sixers coach CJ Bruton said.

“Our effort left, our communication left, and everyone was a step too slow.”

The Phoenix rose to 3-3 with their second straight win, while Adelaide (1-5) remain anchored to the bottom of the ladder.

CJ claims Kings didn’t look after DJ

Adelaide coach CJ Bruton has accused Sydney of not looking after Dejan Vasiljevic, as the war of words between the 36ers and Kings over the sharpshooting guard escalated.

Vasiljevic, a two-time championship winner with Sydney, had originally been released from his Kings contract to chase his NBA dream.

But when the Washington Wizards waived him just before pre-season training camp, the 26-year-old decided to return to the NBL – signing with the Sixers on Tuesday, which didn’t please Sydney’s powerbrokers.

“We originally amended the contract in good faith and completed our roster with the understanding that ‘DJ’ (Vasiljevic) would play internationally this season,” Kings chief executive Chris Pongrass said.

“We are disappointed with how this has been handled and another NBL team’s role in this process.”

Australian basketball legend and Kings co-owner Andrew Bogut chimed in on X where he posted, in part, that Sydney had granted Vasiljevic a release “after he told us he wanted to ‘chase his NBA dream’, not his NBL dream with another club”.

Vasiljevic, fronting the press as a 36er for the first time on Wednesday, fired back at the Kings, saying “they made me look like a villain, they made Adelaide look like the villain”.

But on Thursday night, Bruton called for Sydney to “move on”.

“I’ve only got my perspective – you (Kings) had the chance to have him, you chose not to have him,” he said.

“He’s moved on. Move on.

“If you wanted to do something more, look after the kid.

“Talk to him, championship ceremony or whatever … but that’s on them (Sydney).

“That’s not on us or me.”

Vasiljevic scored 17 points in his Adelaide debut on Thursday, including 11 in a productive first quarter, but he couldn’t prevent the bottom-placed Sixers from suffering a 102-85 loss to South East Melbourne Phoenix.

“I thought his energy was good,” Bruton said of his prized recruit.

“With more time to settle in, the better he’ll become.”