WWAG NBL24 Match Recap - Round 14 vs Adelaide 36ers

Melbourne United started the game with reason to celebrate against the 36ers, as Shea Ili got all the way to the hoop for the team’s first score, which also marked his 1,000th point with the club.

Some strong defensive plays; a Jo Lual-Acuil Jr block and a Kyle Bowen steal, kept United’s momentum going, however Adelaide’s shooters seemed unable to miss, allowing the home side to pull ahead by as many as seven points.

Melbourne quickly hit back through their stars, with Chris Goulding, Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark all hitting the scoreboard.

Bench contributors Ariel Hukporti and Tanner Krebs then made their presence felt, with the former swatting a shot at the rim before the latter tallied five quick points.

Despite this, Adelaide were able to hold onto their advantage, taking a 23-27 lead into the first break.

Looking to fight their way back in front, JLA did whatever he could to control the glass, pulling down eight first half rebounds and in the process passing Josh Boone for the most rebounds in United history.

This however wasn’t enough to slow the Sixers over the first few minutes of the term, who pulled ahead by 12 points before Melbourne’s marksmen went to work.

Bowen, Krebs and Dellavedova all cashed in from beyond the arc before CG43 knocked down a triple plus the foul to bring the visitors back within four points heading into half time.

United’s shooting success continued coming out of the major break, as three point makes from Goulding and Shea Ili tied the game.

With the offence humming, it was the defensive side of the ball that was unfortunately letting Melbourne down, as the ladder-leaders just couldn’t string together consistent stops.

Adelaide scored 31 third-quarter points, expanding their lead to 11 points to close the period. 

A long bright spark for United was the play of Tanner Krebs, who led all Melbourne players with 15 points with one quarter to play.

A hot start to the fourth from the 36ers meant United were forced to play from behind for the entire term.

Trailing by 15 points, Melbourne put together a huge run, pulling within four points thanks to brilliant plays from the likes of Krebs, Ili and Hukporti.

Ultimately, their comeback fell just short, going down for their fifth loss of NBL24 despite a career-high 23 points from Krebs

United will continue their road-trip in Round 15 when they head across the ditch to face the New Zealand Breakers on Friday night from 5:30pm.

Fans can tune in on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel.