A crowd of 1032 packed into the Devonport Basketball Stadium for the NBL Blitz pre-season clash between the Sydney Kings and the new franchise, South East Melbourne Phoenix, with the expansion side coming out on top 96-87.

McCoy said the support shown by the North-West Coast community has been huge and shows good signs for the future of basketball in the state.

"It has been great to see the fans to come out because it is a bit of a preview for what could be for an NBL team in the state," he said.

"Certainly it has been a great test run for the NBL, the state government is seeing how it was embraced and the basketball public has been able to see the second best league in the world."

"It has been fantastic, the whole organisation of the blitz for the four days has been huge as well," he said

"To have 21 schools visits, coaching education, statistics training, so the whole opportunity to upskill and experience the NBL up close is fantastic for the state."

The Phoenix, led by import guard John Roberson, broke the game open in early stages of the first quarter to establish a 22-9, but the lead was reduced to 26-21 by quarter time.

Both team had their opportunities to take control after the break, but the Phoenix once again grabbed the ascendancy and grew their advantage to 47-39 by the half-time.

The Kings tried to work their way back into the game by the NBL Next Star recruit, Brazilian FIBA World Cup star Didi Louzada, in the third quarter and brought the margin back to one point at the midway stage of the term.

But the guard class of Roberson and down and dirty work from Tai Wesley restored the Phoenix's advantage and established a 73-63 lead at the final change.

The Kings pushed hard to get into position to compete down the stretch, trailing by little as eight points with three minutes remaining.

But the Phoenix were too good when it mattered most and were able to secure the nine point victory to open their NBL Blitz campaign.

Roberson was lights out all night and finished with 31 point on 11-13 shooting and hit a perfect 7-7 from behind the three-point arc.

Wesley added 20 points before getting fouled out and Kendall Stephens added 12 points.

Casper Ware, the Kings' marquee signing from Melbourne United, led the scoring in the defeat with 19 points.

Louzada made a big impression in his first game with the club with 13 points and Jae'Sean Tate contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.