Mitsubishi Match Recap: NBL25 Round 16 v Sydney Kings

Melbourne United have escaped Sydney with a narrow two-point win over the Kings.

Looking to come out with energy, United started well, as Shea Ili pulled in an offensive rebound leading to a Chris Goulding three-pointer.

This was the first of a number of highlight plays from Ili, who finished with six points to go along with tremendous defence across his first quarter minutes.

Two more threes for Goulding, along with seven points from Jack White, saw Melbourne go ahead by double-digits quickly.

Helping to build on this advantage was Marcus Lee, who slammed home a powerful put-back dunk in his first possession off the bench.

Ultimately, United amassed a 32-16 lead after one period.

Ili kept up his same intensity from the opening seconds of the second, stealing the inbounds pass and drawing a foul.

A reverse layup followed this, as United found their advantage on the fast break to the tune of 19 fast-break points.

With White already thriving, his frontcourt mate, Rob Loe, found his rhythm, scoring nine points in the quarter from in close and beyond the arc.

The Kings were however able to stay competitive, mainly through Kuot Noi, who found his stroke from beyond to reach 14 points.

Despite this, a Goulding mid-range jumper with time expiring ensured the visitors would hold onto their 16-point lead heading into the major break.

Everything looked to be going Melbourne’s way coming out of half-time, as some more tight defence and good offensive execution extended their lead to 20 points.

Sydney however answered this with a huge run of their own, cutting the deficit to just six points to close the period on the back of effort plays.

Not willing to let Sydney build on the momentum, United operated as a well-oiled machine to start the fourth, going on a 10-2 run, fuelled by Ili’s pace.

He and Dellavedova were massive for the visitors down the stretch, with the former registering a season-high 20 points, and the latter dishing out eight dimes.

After another White layup put Melbourne up by nine points, with less than a minute to go, the Kings made one final push, catching fire to tie the game up with 5.5 second remaining.

Needing a perfectly executed play, Dellavedova found a cutting White for the layup to beat the buzzer, capping off a career-high 23-point effort from the forward and sealing a thrilling 90-88 victory.

United will next head across the ditch to face the NZ Breakers on Monday 13 January from 5:30pm. Fans can tune in via ESPN.