Bulla Recap: Melbourne’s offence catches fire in win over Cairns

Melbourne United was at its dominant best on Monday night as they handed the Cairns Taipans a heavy defeat at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

After having their home game relocated to Sydney due to Melbourne’s lockdown, United didn’t waste any time against the Taipans as they handled their business to remain on top of the ladder with two games left to play in the regular season.

United’s offence was humming along nicely in the early stages of the game as great ball movement led to open shots. Jock Landale was the dominant player on the court in the first five minutes as he connected on two triples to help Melbourne to a 10-point lead, 17-7, halfway through the term.

While the offence was popping, United’s defence was also locked in and points were hard to come by for the Taipans. With just over two minutes to play in the quarter, Melbourne had held Cairns to just seven points.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. scored a pair of buckets late, while for Cairns, it was Majok Deng who scored a couple of times to get his team into double figures. At the first break, it was United leading 29-13.

The second term began with a Chris Goulding three-pointer, but Scott Machado took over the quarter as he led the Taipans back into the contest. He scored eight points in the term, and along with Jordan Hunt, helped Cairns trim the margin to just seven points, 43-36, with three minutes to play in the first half.

With the Taipans pressing hard, David Barlow stepped up to the plate and delivered with back-to-back triples in the final two minutes – taking his first-half three-pointer tally to four – and helped United wrestle back the momentum.

Scotty Hopson nailed a triple late in the term and at the main break Melbourne held a 13-point lead, 55-42, thanks largely to their three-point shooting (11/19 from deep in the first half). Barlow (12 points) led all scorers, while Nate Jawai (10 points and 4 rebounds) was pacing Cairns.

Barlow was given the second-half start and he didn’t disappoint as he continued his perfect shooting night with two buckets in the opening two and half minutes of play to make it 6/6 from the field for the veteran.

When Goulding drained his second triple of the evening, United had started the second half on a 7-0 run to jump out to a 20-point lead, 62-42, after three minutes of play.

To Cairns’ credit they fought back, putting together a 6-0 run of their own and forced a Melbourne time-out. Hopson was the man who ended the third quarter on fire as he took over the game in the final two minutes of the term.

He first connected on a turnaround jump shot, before finishing off a highlight alley-oop pass from Shea Ili. In the final second of the quarter, Hopson delivered again with a tough and-1 play to give Melbourne a 22-point lead, 77-55, at the final break.

Hopson’s hot streak continued in the fourth quarter as he scored the first bucket of the term, and then it was a three-point party for United as Ili – playing his 150^th NBL game – hit a triple, before Landale connected on another pair of long-range shots to give Melbourne a 26-point lead, 90-64, with six minutes left to play.

Down the stretch, Melbourne ensured they got the job done in convincing fashion, running out 25-point winners, 101-76.

Hopson (21 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds) was on a mission as he made sure his presence was felt off the bench, while Landale (16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks) was his usual dominant self.

Barlow (16 points and 4 rebounds) hit a season-high four triples, Mason Peatling (12 points and 11 rebounds) recorded his first career double-double, while Mitch McCarron (10 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds) and Lual-Acuil Jr. (10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks) also scored in double figures.

Mirko Djeric (16 points) and Tad Dufelmeier (13 points and 5 rebounds) led the way for Cairns.

Melbourne’s outside shooting (53% from deep) played a major role in the win and their ball movement sent an ominous warning to the rest of the league with Finals just around the corner.

The win sees Melbourne improve to 26-8 to sit on top of the ladder, one win ahead of Perth. Next up for United is a mouth-watering top-of-the-table blockbuster against the Wildcats in Perth.