Nathan Sobey has helped South East Melbourne to their most impressive performance of the NBL season yet, a 100-76 thrashing of the Perth Wildcats that continues the Phoenix's rise.
South East Melbourne have now won four of five games since a disastrous 0-5 start that forced them to the bottom of the ladder and cost coach Mike Kelly his job.
They have also claimed victory in both games since installing Josh King as Kelly's permanent replacement, with perennial heavyweights Perth short of answers to the Phoenix's prolific attack in Melbourne on Sunday.
Maligned for his form under Kelly, key recruit Sobey (20 points) continued to turn his season around with his largest haul yet in a Phoenix singlet.
The Olympic bronze medallist hit two early three-pointers to set the tone for a strong team shooting performance, and finished with a game-high five assists.
In total, the Phoenix hit 62 per cent of their shots from two-point range and 50 per cent of their field goal attempts.
Phoenix import Matt Hurt (17 points, four rebounds) looked primed to continue pushing his early MVP case in a 35-23 first quarter that put his side in control.
The American hit all six attempts from the field, scoring 14 points for the quarter.
He cooled off after the first change, but the Phoenix never trailed again.
Sobey said the Phoenix were finally fulfilling their potential after significant roster turnover in the off-season.
"Bringing eight new guys into a team is never easy and for us to kind of figure out how we play with each other, what works best on both ends of the floor, probably took a bit longer than we thought," he said.
"We're really starting to see what our strengths are and how we can keep getting those guys in the right spots to make those plays."
Still missing talisman Bryce Cotton to a rib injury, the Wildcats struggled for the same scoring punch and shot at just 36 per cent from the field for the game.
"First half, I liked the pace and the flow of the game but we didn't respect the little things within the game to allow us to regain some momentum, and they capitalised," said Wildcats coach John Rillie.
Rillie could consider himself lucky not to have been tech-fouled during a second quarter that featured plenty of chatter between the referees and the Perth coach.
Most notably, Rillie yelled "Sobey is a bad defender. He is a bad defender", after the referees reversed a foul on the Phoenix guard.
Jesse Wagstaff had three points in seven minutes from the bench as he set a new record for most Wildcats games in his 483rd appearance at the club.
