Full Strength United Snap Losing Run Over Bullets

Melbourne United had what they've been waiting all NBL23 for and that was a full roster available and the end result was snapping a five-game losing streak with a 104-88 Saturday night home win against the Brisbane Bullets.

With Marcus Lee having settled into the line-up, Isaac Humphries back from a bout of COVID and Shea Ili cleared to return after on-going concussion symptoms, Melbourne had everyone available for the first time all season at John Cain Arena.

The result was United's best all-round performance as they led from start to finish against the Bullets to score their first win this NBL season since the 25-point Throwdown win back on November 6.

There was plenty to like in the performance from Melbourne who shot 57 per cent from the field including hitting 12/28 from deep while dishing out 27 assists with the point guard combination of Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Ili working a treat.

Rayjon Tucker continued his strong form too for United with 20 points on 8/11 shooting while Chris Goulding drained 6/10 from beyond the arc for 20 points and three assists.

Lee played the best of his five NBL games too with 18 points and six rebounds while Ili showed his importance with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Rathan-Mayes came in off the bench for eight points and 10 assists.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ili drains the three to beat the buzzer! ?<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/Gj4UZJBmuT">pic.twitter.com/Gj4UZJBmuT</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1601525280081727489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

United coach Dean Vickerman was just glad to see what his team could do with everyone available.

"It was great. Obviously having Shea and 'Ice' back we saw that it allowed the ball to move to start with," Vickerman said.

"We saw Tuck get some kick aheads early on to get him going and Shea made his shots, he was great. He had a massive steal on Baynesy chasing something down, he hit a big three and he did some amazing things. 

"I thought 'Ice' was really solid too even though we didn’t have a massive focus on going to the post tonight. Everyone's starting to learn their role and X came off the bench and had 10 assists. 

"We haven’t had 27 assists all year so to let the basketball move and trust each other, and make extra passes was the right way to play basketball. It was fun."

Brisbane battled hard but just couldn’t match the firepower of Melbourne ultimately. Nathan Sobey put up 24 points including shooting 4/9 from beyond the arc with Jason Cadee contributing 14 points and five assists.

Gorjok Gak played likely the best game of his NBL career to date with 15 points and six rebounds with Tyler Johnson adding 12 points. Aron Baynes returned for seven points and five rebounds in just 17 minutes.

Caretaker Bullets coach Sam Mackinnon just felt his team's sloppy ball handling at times allowed United get out and build their momentum and confidence.

"The game just started tough and put us behind the eight ball, and we turned the ball over a lot," Mackinnon said. 

"We had 10 turnovers in the first half and I think with just that we were playing catch up. We had a good run in the third but a breakdown at the end of the quarter, and then in the fourth things got away from us a bit. 

"We are fighting and we are competing, but we're low on numbers and I think you can kinda see that with our shorter rotations. I had called my three timeouts and then games can end like that. We fought, we tried to make some adjustments defensively to try to stop them from getting layups but couldn’t get it done."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tyler Johnson with the filthy stepback!<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/vylA93ONBL">pic.twitter.com/vylA93ONBL</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1601522279778684930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Melbourne's intensity was up from the outset with Marcus Lee setting the tone down low and then Shea Ili hitting a three and making two free-throws in what was a 9-2 opening for the home team.

After Brisbane steadied with triples to Aron Baynes and Nathan Sobey, United pulled away again with a three to Chris Goulding before Brad Newley and Isaac Humphries pushed the margin out to 11.

Brisbane finished the quarter strongly, though, with a 10-4 run including a late three ball from Tyler Johnson to cut the United advantage to 28-23.

It was all Melbourne again to open the second period with the first eight points including long-range bombs from Goulding and Rayjon Tucker.

It was Jason Cadee who tried to keep the Bullets in touch and he scored 10 straight points for his team and brought the margin back to seven, but by half-time Melbourne still led 50-41.

Tucker and Lee had combined for 24 points on 10/13 shooting for Melbourne despite the 19 points for Brisbane to Cadee and Sobey, but the 10 Bullets turnovers were costly.

It took almost three minutes for a score to start the second half but eventually it was the Bullets hitting the opening six points to close to within three. It took over four minutes for Melbourne to score and it was a Goulding three ball just seconds after copping a heavy screen from Baynes.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes soon scored his first points of the night and another three ball from Goulding pushed the lead back out to eight, and that's where it stood at three quarter-time following a triple from Ili on the buzzer that almost lifted the roof off John Cain Arena.

Tucker pushed Melbourne's lead back out to double-figures by bringing the energy for five quick points to open the fourth. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">United moving the ball for a Marcus Lee dunking spree!<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/G7uSpO3HXF">pic.twitter.com/G7uSpO3HXF</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1601507029369004032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Even though the Bullets kept coming including a couple of triples to Sobey, Melbourne remained in control and Goulding's fifth and sixth three-pointers of the night pushed the lead out to 15, and led his team to the eventual 16-point win.

Melbourne now heads straight to Perth to take on the Wildcats on Monday night while the Bullets head up to Cairns to face the Taipans on Wednesday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

MELBOURNE UNITED 104 (Tucker 20, Goulding 20, Lee 18)

BRISBANE BULLETS 88 (Sobey 24, Gak 15, Cadee 14) 

BOX SCORE