The Melbourne Tigers welcomed arguably the most credentialed player in NBL history with a stunning 96-66 win over the Adelaide 36ers at Hisense Arena on Friday night.

Despite missing his first eight shots, Jonny Flynn (12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4/17 from the field) used his quickness and play-making abilities to give the Tigers a new identity and an instant catalyst in transition.

Adelaide coach Marty Clarke didn’t play down Flynn’s impact, despite his rusty shooting.

“You bring someone in who’s meant to be the saviour, and everyone else grows six inches, they pump up,” Clarke said.

Melbourne coach Chris Anstey praised his team for their ability to get out and run.

“There wasn’t a hell of a lot of coaching done tonight,” Anstey said.

“The tempo of the game was faster, our wings were rewarded for running, our bigs were rewarded for working hard. It allowed our personality to come out a bit.”

A clicked-in Chris Goulding (24 points, 75% field-goal shooting) and Seth Scott (18 points, 10 rebounds) were the dominant forces on the night and should be big beneficiaries of Flynn’s new reign.

The 36ers were led by Anthony Petrie (15 points, 7 rebounds), Jason Cadee (10 points) and Daniel Johnson (12 points, 8 rebounds).

An early Luke Schenscher block and jumper got the 36ers off to an up-and-down start, with Adam Gibson showing the new guy he’s played against the best.

Causing frustration early by keeping the ball out of the point guard’s hands, Adelaide soon had to adjust to Goulding finding range on his way to 11 points in a first quarter that featured seven lead changes.

The Tigers took advantage of a scrambling 36ers defence in the second, while Flynn continued to find his rhythm, finally making his first basket with a helping hand from Scott.

Flynn described his elation at being back out on the court after an extended off-season, saying “it just felt great playing under the whistle. I can’t even remember the last time.”

Taking their lead out to double-digits despite the efficient work of Petrie, the Tigers went into the major break up 43-32.

The home team came out running in the second half, pushing the ball at every opportunity and milking Goulding in transition as the lead quickly went beyond 20 points.

Adelaide couldn’t find a hot hand while the Tigers reached a new level behind the energy of Bennie Lewis and Lucas Walker.

Clarke was quick to point out the eccentricities of basketball.

“That clearly wasn’t us,” Clarke said. “It’s an emotional league, emotional game. They caught fire and it was like a death by a thousand cuts.

“The biggest disappointment was that we’ve lost the series lead after an encouraging first game against them. And those series will play a big part in the league this year.”

The final quarter was a no-contest as Melbourne picked apart a stretched Adelaide zone that failed to slow down any aspect of the Tigers second-half run.

Melbourne Tigers 96 (Goulding 24, Scott 18, Flynn 12)
Adelaide 36ers 66 (Petrie 15, Johnson 12, Cadee 10)

Crowd: 5283 at Hisense Arena, Melbourne