Match Recap: NBL23 Round 2 vs Sydney Kings

Written by Melbourne United Media

Melbourne United have gone down by 20 points on Sunday afternoon against the Sydney Kings.

It was a neck-in-neck start to the game, as United’s star from Round 1 Xavier Rathan-Mayes knocked down back-to-back triples, before Makuach Maluach put in his first NBL points on a long-range make of his own.

Trailing 17-18, the Kings closed the period with some force, scoring the final nine points to take a 10-point advantage.

Things unfortunately only got worse for United as the second term began, as Sydney got unbelievably hot while clamping down on defence.

The Kings outscored Melbourne 30-6 across the 10 minutes, with the home side unable to build any momentum for much of the quarter.

Things looked immediately better for United coming out of the major break, as they attacked from across the court to slowly chip away at the deficit.

David Barlow knocked in a deep triple before David Okwera got the crowd on their feet with a massive putback slam.

Brad Newley showed his skill to close the period, scoring seven points in limited minutes off the bench to help Melbourne outscore the Kings 25-17 in the third term.

The final 10 minutes played out similarly, as Melbourne just kept working thanks to the constant support from the amazing JCA crowd, who were swinging their Roll’d Rally Towels all game long.

Isaac Humphries protected the rim well, sending away five shots, while Jordan Caroline put together his strongest game with United, coming away with a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds).

Melbourne went on a 15-2 run, cutting the Sydney lead all the way down to 13 points, however it was too little too late, with the Kings closing the game well and taking away a 20-point victory.

United will next play in Perth against the Wildcats on Friday night at 9:30pm AEDT.