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SOUTH East Melbourne yesterday seized on Cairns' glaring vulnerability to produce a record win against the Taipans, import John Brown alight, before Bryce Hamilton gave Wildcats fans another reason to remember a "Bryce" as he steered Tasmania to a substantial road win in Perth. 

With the Taipans minus their import point guard - one cut due to visa issues, the replacement not yet arrived - the Phoenix came out fullcourt pressing and created havoc.

Brown, who three years ago led the Euroleague in steals, had five of his six in the first half as the Taipans wracked up 15 turnovers before the main break, by which time the Phoenix's match-winning 59-35 lead was established.

Anything that happened after halftime paled into insignificance, South East breaking open the contest after a 15-15 tie late in the first quarter.

An 8-0 run to the break - featuring a few unexpected contributions from Daniel Foster, DJ Mitchell, Jordan Hunter and Hunter Maldonado - made it a 23-15 period and set up the avalanche to follow.

Harassing Cairns into errors and poor decisions, South East capitalised with a 36-20 second quarter and this thing was done and dusted.

Gorjak Gak was value for time played, Angus Glover leading seven double-digit Phoenix scorers in a good old-fashioned rout.

Phoenix coach Josh King had the luxury of clearing his bench while the Taipans, minus Sam Waardenburg (ankle) until possibly December, needed Marcus Lee to step up, which he did with a 10-point, 12-rebound double.

Reyne Smith connected on 4-of-8 threes and 7-of-8 free throws to lead Cairns on debut with 19 points, Jack McVeigh, Admiral Schofield and Kody Stattmann battling unsuccessfully against the odds.

Losing at home to open the round, Tasmania looked to be battling the odds in Perth as the Wildcats raced 12 points clear early.

But after that flurry and as the match wore on, it was clear Perth is a work-in-progress and a long way off from where it has the potential to finish.

Coach John Rillie put his trust in several players who let him down, most notably Dylan Windler and Ben Henshall. Windler played 35 minutes, the most of any player in the game. His production was three points on 1-of-7 shooting, two rebounds, three assists, a block and two turnovers.

Blind spot coach?

Henshall's eight points came on 4-of-13 shooting, although his two blocks were ultra athletic.

Mason Jones played well within himself but stepped it up in the last quarter when the game was there to be won and Jo Lual-Acuil (15 points, 14 boards) showed promise for what lies ahead.

But for pure grit and will-to-win, Tasmania could not be faulted or faltered. Scott Roth had his men in tune with the goal and while he will draw far more from Josh Bannan and Tyger Campbell in further battles, both were there in key moments.

Bannan had 10 rebounds and drove for a big key bucket late.

Majok Deng, Nick Marshall, Ben Ayre all provided energy and David Johnson, while not as hot as he was against Melbourne, still was solid.

Bryce Hamilton was the story of the game though. His 26 points came on 12-of-19 shooting, with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Perth could do little to slow him down and in the endgame, when the match was there to be won, he did what all good players named Bryce do - he won it.

NBL Round 1

Melbourne United 88 (Doyle 22, Walker 14, Ili, Delany 12, Edwards 10; Krslovic 12 rebs; Edwards, Ili, Doyle 3 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 84 (Hamilton 24, Johnson 22, Bannan 9; Johnson 10 rebs; Ayre, Campbell 4 assts) on the Anthill, MyState Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,340

Brisbane Bullets 104 (Prather 27, Harrison 24, Freeman-Liberty 17, Adams 14, Ducas, McDaniel 10; Harrison 15 rebs; Adams 7 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 95 (Brockington, Jackson-Cartwright 16, Menenga 14, Davison, Baker, Te Rangi 12; Mennenga 8 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 12 assts) at Spark Arena, Auckland. Crowd:

South East Melbourne Phoenix 114 (Glover 18, Maldonado 16, Brown 14, Sobey 13, Foxwell 12, Gak 11, Hunter 10; Hunter, Lewis 8 rebs; Sobey 8 assts) d Cairns Taipans 77 (Smith 19, McVeigh 18, Schofield 12, Lee 10; Lee 12 rebs; Stattmann 5 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 5,371

Tasmania JackJumpers 75 (Hamilton 26, Johnson 12, Magnay 10; Bannan 10 rebs; Hamilton 5 assts) d Perth Wildcats 72 (Jones 16, Lual-Acuil 15, Doolittle 12; Lual-Acuil 14 rebs; Jones, Windler 3 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 11,701

Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament

Panathinaikos 91 (Nunn 21, Yurtseven 20, Rogkavopoulos 10; Yurtseven 13 rebs; Nunn 8 assts) d Partizan 82 (Washington 19, Parker 18, Osetkowski 16, Brown 13; Parker 8 rebs; Brown 5 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 10,500 Today at Qudos Bank Arena: Sydney Kings v Partizan, Adelaide 36ers v Panathinaikos.

NBL Round 1 Today

After their opening round outings - Melbourne winning on the road, New Zealand losing at home - it is tough to see today's clash as anything other than a United home win.