Melbourne Boomers held their biggest lead of the game at 51-43 in the third quarter before Nurse drained three unanswered three-pointers.

Nurse was named MVP on Friday and backed up her gong with a stellar performance to win the three-game series opener 84-70 in Canberra.

"They felt really good coming off and there was a lot of time and space," Nurse said.

"Once one went down I just kept going until I missed. It was like 'Oh I'm open again'. It was fun.

"The best part was the crowd."

Nurse finished with 25 points, while French import Olivia Epoupa was sensational with 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in front of 2492 raucous fans at the AIS Arena.

"I don't think they had an answer to defending (Nurse)," Capitals coach Paul Gorris said.

"When you make those shots it just builds everyone else's confidence and we fed off that."

The teams hadn't played in two weeks due to an international break but both sides looked polished from the tip-off in what proved a cracking start to the finals.

Two of the three games between Canberra and Melbourne this season were decided by just one basket - with the Capitals winning both and earning home-court advantage for this series.

It proved another tight affair for three quarters as Boomers' star American Lindsay Allen dominated the first quarter on her starting return from a knee injury.

Allen finished with 17 points and five assists, while Madeleine Garrick was Melbourne's next best with 16 points and Sophie Cunningham had 14 points.

"It's disappointing but the good thing about it is it's a three-game series so we go back to ours and battle it out again," Garrick said.

"I'm completely (confident) we'll get it done, we just have to get back and refocus and lock into those (key) moments.

'We lost focus when Kia hit those three threes. It had a big influence on the game.

"We'll get better this week - I can't wait to get back home and snatch that second win."

Melbourne coach Guy Molloy was filthy his side gave up 27 points in the final quarter in their biggest loss of the season and conceded Nurse's blitz decided the contest.

"That was a complete brain fade and shouldn't have happened but we let it happen and paid the penalty for it," Molloy said.

The Capitals are chasing back-to-back championships after ending a nine-year title drought last season.

Minor premiers Southside host the Adelaide lightning in game one of the other semi-final series on Tuesday.

Australian Associated Press