Nathan Sobey's career-best masterclass has helped South East Melbourne Phoenix dig their way out of a massive hole and square their NBL semi-final series against the Adelaide 36ers at 1-1 with a stirring 101-92 win.
The Phoenix looked in huge trouble, trailing by 18 points in the second quarter, before Sobey piloted a 39-20 third term that flipped Game 2 of the best-of-three semi-final playoff series on its head at John Cain Arena on Saturday.
Sobey finished with 41 points, including 8-of-16 from three-point range. No other Phoenix player topped 12.
"I thought we were playing very passive, very timid in the first quarter," SEM coach Josh King said.
"The guys did an unbelievable job of adjusting in that second half.
"It (halftime message) was, 'Get your head out of your ass - we've got 20 minutes to save our season'."
Bryce Cotton led the Sixers with 29 points, but he was held to just two in the final term.
Big enforcer Nick Rakocevic shrugged off the crowd's boos to pair 18 points with 10 rebounds.
It was all on Adelaide's terms early, Cotton's long three on the quarter-time bell capping a 14-2 close to the term that put Adelaide up 30-19.
The 36ers continued their hot pace, shooting a blistering 73 per cent in the first half - including 75 per cent from deep - as the margin swelled to 18 points.
Zylan Cheatham threw down two huge dunks in the second term and Cotton had 19 points by halftime, SEM uncharacteristically rattled on the defensive end.
The Phoenix, who fell behind 44-26, still trailed 57-44 at halftime, before Sobey came out breathing fire in the third stanza.
He started it with a pair of triples, as well as taking a charge from Cheatham.
Sobey, the oldest man on the court, didn't stop there.
SEM took the lead on Sobey's seventh three, then he extended it by draining his eighth from downtown.
The Phoenix had outscored Adelaide 22-5 for the quarter by that stage, Sobey with a mind-boggling 17 of them.
The Phoenix, up 83-77 at three-quarter time, continued to control proceedings down the stretch, finishing with 25 more shot attempts and 11 more offensive rebounds.
Game 3 will be at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday.
"We did a lot of really good things to control the pace in the first half," Sixers coach Mike Wells said.
"That third quarter was obviously played on their pace and their terms.
"We had some possessions with turnovers and missed shots, and they got going."
