Australian Boomers and Opals draw first blood in Trans-Tasman series

The Australian Boomers unveiled a heroic second half turnaround to claim a 12-point win in the first game of the Trans-Tasman Throwdown on Wednesday.

It was a rocky start for Australia as they took to the court without several of their experienced stars due to commitments in the NBA. Although, the likes of Dyson Daniels and Giddey were both present at the match.

The Kiwis powered to an early lead to send a clear warning to the hosts in Adelaide, but their dominance on the court was quickly put to the test against Dejan Vasiljevic.

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Having lost the opening two terms by a small margin, Vasiljevic partnered with Elijah Pepper to ignite an electric comeback drive for the Boomers.

Vasiljevic, an Adelaide local, started the second with a triple before assisting his teammates to claim 18 of the last 21 points scored in the third term.

Such efforts included a sensational three ball to Angus Glover, who nailed a bucket just seconds before the buzzer went to change Australia's six-point trail to a nine-point lead.

Australia continued to surge in the final term as they opened the quarter with 15 straight points, while the Talk Blacks hunt to push back into the contest continued.

Pepper raised his total to 16 points to round out the match while Vasiljevic finished with 23 points. Glover recorded 10 points and seven rebounds.

"We had to set the tone [in the second half]," Dejan Vasiljevic told Nine.

"There's a lot of potential there... but the most important thing is we got the win and now we get to go recover and do it again on Friday."

Meanwhile, the Opals claimed a dominant 88-70 win over a youthful Tall Ferns team.

An experienced Australian outfit remained in control of the match from start to finish, although were met by strong challenges from their rival counterparts.

Natalie Hurst worked to improve and establish combinations on the court, with just one player named in the Kiwi squad with more than five international caps.

A sensational 23-point display by Miela Sowah proved to be a crucial difference on the court, with the Australian guard making seven of her 10 attempted shots.

"Our point guards, their defence was exceptional, they got so many steals and that got our offence going," Sowah, who was on debut for the Opals, told Nine post-match.

"We are a new team so it's pretty fun, definitely a couple of cobwebs to fix up."

Alexandra Fowler found 12 points and six rebounds, while Sara Blicavs added nine points and Courtney Woods recorded 11.