WWAG NBL24 Match Recap - Round 14 vs Sydney Kings

Starting in the place of Luke Travers who hurt his ankle in warmups, Kyle Bowen opened Melbourne United’s account, draining a triple from the wing for the game’s first score.

A pair of buckets around the basket, along with a Matthew Dellavedova three-pointer, propelled United into a strong position, leading 13-7.

The Kings were able to answer quickly, going on a run of their own to pull in front towards the end of the period.

It was Ili again who provided a spark for Melbourne, slicing his way inside to beat the quarter-time buzzer and reduce the deficit to five points.

Mirroring the first, United started well coming, scoring around the hoop through Dellavedova and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr before Chris Goulding cashed in from long range.

Ian Clark then got in on the action, tallying five quick points to put Melbourne back in front.

Great hustle plays kept the scoreboard ticking along for United, however some late triples from the home side allowed them to go ahead by two points heading into half-time.

Coming out of the major break, nothing could separate the two sides, as both team’s stars found the bottom of the net from all over the court.

Needing something special to break the game open, Tanner Krebs went to work off the bench.

Playing on his 28th birthday, the sharpshooter splashed a trio of three pointers, which combined with some lockdown defence, allowed United to pull ahead.

Buoyed by Krebs’ performance, Melbourne put together a 13-0 run to take a 73-59 advantage into the final period.

Riding a wave of momentum, there was simply no stopping the ladder leaders come the fourth quarter.

Starting with a huge Ariel Hukporti alley-oop slam, Melbourne’s bucket getters put Sydney to the sword.

Krebs added four more points to bring his tally up to 13, while CG43 knocked down a pair of deep threes to expand United’s lead.

A Lual-Acuil Jr and-1 finish all but sealed the deal on the victory, giving United their seventh road win of the season.

Melbourne will next face the 36ers on Saturday night from 7:30pm at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.