DrinkWise Preview: NBL26 - Round 20 v Adelaide 36ers

Saturday night will see us return to John Cain Arena for the first time in 45 days as we celebrate our Pride Game in a matchup against the Adelaide 36ers.

Having won three of our past four games, the group is confident they can rebound from the only loss in that stretch with a strong performance back in front of our amazing home fans.

For the 36ers, a fifth loss in the past seven games on Thursday night saw the team drop from the top position on the ladder, and another defeat on Saturday could see Adelaide fall as low as third on the table.

WHAT’S THE WORD?

Having tallied a big 20 point performance in our most recent matchup with the 36ers, Finn Delany touched on how he’s enjoying his basketball with United, and his hopes for the remainder of the season.

“I'm loving basketball here at Melbourne United. I love the role that I play,” Delany said.

“The opportunities that we have at the end of the year don’t come around too often because I believe we can be a really good basketball team, and we've shown that this year.”

Looking to rebound from a one-point loss on Thursday evening, Adelaide Head Coach Mike Wells is anticipating a hard-fought contest come Saturday evening.

“We've got to use the sting of this to be our fuel to kind of drive us on Saturday night which would be a very difficult game there at United,” Wells said.

“We'll have to kind of regroup and refill our cup and get ready for a team down there in United that's been sitting there waiting on us.”

WHO’S HOT, WHO'S NOT

Despite the loss in Round 19, the major positive for us from the game was the return of Shea Ili.

The superstar guard was influential in limited minutes, finishing as a team best +11 in his minutes, while scoring 11 points and dishing out three assists.

Ili will have to contend with Adelaide’s formidable scoring guards, led by Bryce Cotton on Saturday evening.

Across his past seven games, Cotton has averaged 24.4 points per game, but has been limited to 29.1% shooting from beyond the arc.

DETAILS

Who: Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers

Tip-off: 8pm AEDT, Saturday 7 February, 2026

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Watch: ESPN

Tickets: Limited seats available here