A new, improved Matthew Dellavedova has steered Melbourne United to an 82-67 win over city rivals South East Melbourne Phoenix in the NBL season opener.
Dellavedova took centre stage in front of NBA legend Scottie Pippen and a sell-out crowd at John Cain Arena on Thursday night, dropping 17 points in an eye-catching display.
Fellow off-season acquisition Luke Travers (20 points) also fired to settle a one-sided Victorian derby as Pippen - an NBL ambassador - sat courtside with former Chicago Bulls title-winning teammate Luc Longley.
Left out of the Boomers' squad for the recent World Cup, Dellavedova has adopted a fresh diet and more aggressive approach in a bid to reinvent both his body and game.
The moves are already paying off for the 33-year-old in his NBL return after a season-long cameo with Sacramento, as he seeks to fight his way back into the national team ahead of next year's Paris Olympics.
Dellavedova dominated the Blitz pre-season tournament last week and carried that form into the season opener, scoring all of his points in the first half to lay the platform for United's win.
He also finished with six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 31 minutes on court.
"His impact on the game was amazing," Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said.
"He had a massive impact scoring the basketball in the first half and then had some good defensive assignments in the second half as well.
"He's finding his balance about attacking, getting fouled, shooting his three-ball and getting others involved.
"But I like the aggressive mindset that he's playing with and we want to keep it all year."
Ben Ayre (17 points), Will Cummings (14) and Tyler Cook (12) all reached double figures for South East Melbourne, who fell flat in their first outing under new coach Mike Kelly.
The Phoenix landed just 29 per cent of shots from the field and were 18-of-28 from the foul line.
"It was frustrating to not be able to make a shot," Kelly said.
"Their defence was good and we didn't really ever figure it out offensively.
"We got going in patches through some individual play but (it was) frustrating from that point of view."
Dellavedova led the Melbourne charge early, rattling off 12 points and two assists in the first period to set up a 29-24 lead at quarter-time.
It stretched to 45-33 by halftime, with the Phoenix managing just nine points in the second period.
United maintained a double-figure buffer throughout the second half to post a comfortable win.
