The love affair that dual championship winner DJ Vasiljevic has with playing against the South East Melbourne has continued as he pulled Adelaide out of the fire for a 96-93 NBL victory.
The 36ers hosted the Phoenix at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in the standalone Friday night game and for a half the building was deathly silent, and South East Melbourne were in complete control.
It was a Phoenix team featuring two former Sixers captains as well with Mitch Creek now accustomed to playing his old side, but it was seven-time Adelaide MVP Daniel Johnson's first appearance against them.
Signed as an injury replacement player for Gorjok Gak, Johnson got a warm reception when he hit the floor and his two three-pointers in the first half were met by stunned silence from the 7833 crowd.
South East Melbourne led by 17 points at quarter time, 18 at the half and couldn't have been more emphatic with what they did to the home team in the first half.
There was a complete transformation, though, after the break and it started with Adelaide going on a 10-2 run.
After sitting on the bench for the entire first half, Kyrin Galloway hit a pair of three balls as part of another 11-0 36ers run that got them within a point.
Vasiljevic then hit an off-balance three on the buzzer going into three-quarter time to keep it a one-point game.
By the time Vasiljevic drained his third triple, Adelaide were leading by eight with three minutes to go and in a game of dramatic momentum swings went on to win by three.
Vasiljevic scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half against the same opponent he piled 42 points on last season when he was with the Sydney Kings.
Jacob Wiley had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Sixers and Next Star Trentyn Flowers came up big in 26 minutes for 13 points and nine boards.
It was a tough loss for the Phoenix to take, coming off a disappointing defeat to Melbourne United on Sunday. Alan Williams finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Creek added 20, Will Cummings 16 and Reuben Te Rangi 11.