DrinkWise Preview: NBL26 - Round 16, Game Two v Sydney Kings

We will look to bounce back from our close loss on Wednesday evening when we hit the road for a top-four matchup with the Sydney Kings.

Still searching for a greater level of consistency following the FIBA Window, securing a victory on Sunday is crucial as we look to continue chasing a top-two finish at the end of the regular season.

This will be no easy task, with the Kings playing strong basketball of late by leaning on a collection of contributors, as they did on Friday evening when they demolished the NZ Breakers by 41 points.

WHAT’S THE WORD?

Ahead of Sunday’s game, Head Coach Dean Vickerman told the media he has sent a clear message to his players about what this matchup with Sydney means.

“There’s nine games to go, we have a chance to turn it around, we’ve got time to make this happen,” Vickerman outlined.

“We go to Sydney on Sunday and we play a really good team and my message to my boys was ‘Hey, this is a Championship contending team, this is where we really measure ourselves to see if we’re either below (that level) or are we good enough to contend with these teams right now.’

“I hope our group can respond and stay together and put together a really good performance on Sunday.”

Speaking after their win on Friday, Kings Head Coach Brian Goorjian said Sunday’s matchup is as important as any other leading into the final third of the season.

“You’ve just got to play one (game) at a time and keep trying to get better on the day to day,” Goorjian explained.

“If I went to each game and said ‘this is going to be important’ you could do it every week. It’s what we felt like coming in tonight (Friday) after two losses against desperate teams on the road.”

WHO’S HOT, WHO'S NOT

A bright spark that came from our game in Bendigo on Wednesday was the play of Chris Goulding, who broke free for his best scoring game of the season with 27 points, including five three-pointers.

Across his career, Goulding has found success against the Kings, having connected on 148 threes against Sydney.

Looking to match Goulding’s performance could be Kendrick Davis, who is averaging 27 points per game against us this season.

David registered just 10 points on Friday evening, his equal-lowest mark of the season.

DETAILS

Who: Melbourne United vs Sydney Kings

Tip-off: 4:30pm AEDT, Sunday 11 January, 2026

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Watch: ESPN and Channel 10

‍