Championship players stepping up in huge moments

Looking at Melbourne United’s NBL24 roster, the sheer amount of championship experience they are capable of putting on the court is eye-opening.

Led by NBA Champions Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark, as well as NBL Champions Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Luke Travers, United were able to take every punch thrown by the JackJumpers, ultimately outlasting Tasmania by two points on Thursday night.

Clark, who led all MU scorers with 18 points, praised the poise of Melbourne’s leaders in the game’s biggest moments.

“I think it’s been showing all playoffs from a lot of guys in different areas,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that are competitors but also are not rattled in big moments… It's been a collective of guys stepping up and having voices and making plays.

“I think that coming into Sunday we’ve got a lot of guys that have been in that position before so using that and playing off of each other is going to be great for us.”

The NBA and NBL champ singled out Dellavedova and Lual-Acuil Jr, who came up with the two biggest plays of the game, a layup to give United the lead and a steal to help secure the win, for their ability to make winning plays.

“Personally it’s (Dellavedova’s) calmness in every play (that is the biggest help). 

“He’s so level headed in bringing guys together in huddles and timeouts but also when the other team is going on a run, whether it’s this series or last he’s the first one to bring guys in, to say ‘next play’ and to get us back where we need to be.

“It’s great being teammates with him, I’m glad he’s on our side.

“When guys are called upon, they respond. Jo loves the big moments, I think we all know that. He’s such a competitor, so being able to have him in in that moment was big. The steal was massive for us, and him being able to save it and keep it inbounds.”

United will look to their stars one final time on Sunday afternoon as they hope to secure the deciding Game 5 victory at home in front of their fans inside John Cain Arena.

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