Preview: Sydney vs Melbourne - Round 17, NBL24

Friday, January 26, 2024

Sydney Kings and Melbourne United have differing form lines and what's at stake coming into Sunday's matchup.

Sunday, January 28 at 4:00pm AEDT | Qudos Bank Arena

Watch: Live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach & 10 Play, Sky Sport in NZ - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

The two teams have combined to win the past three NBL championships and have quite the rivalry that's built up, but there are differing form lines and what's at stake coming into Sunday's matchup.

The three-peat hopes of the Kings are hanging by a thread, following a shock loss to a South East Melbourne Phoenix team on Thursday night in Melbourne which was missing a bevy of stars and on a five-game losing run.

Sydney went into the game virtually unbackable favourites, but ended up barely firing a shot for the entire evening on the way a six-point defeat, Now, that leaves them fighting just to stay inside the top six, let alone battling for a top four position.

The Kings have now lost seven of the last nine matches to have slipped to an 11-13 record on the season, with the chance that both DJ Hogg and Jaylin Galloway will be out for Sunday's matchup with shoulder complaints making the job all that much tougher.

A loss to United and Sydney will drop behind the winner of the Illawarra-New Zealand clash, and with games to finish against the Sixers, Hawks and Phoenix, they will have work to do.

Melbourne, meanwhile, will be playing the last game on the road of this stretch in January, thanks to the Australian Open, with United having done well to not drop consecutive matches in that run even, when without Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Shea Ili.

They were both back on Friday night for the 16-point win in Brisbane where Melbourne was able to flex its muscles and to maintain its hold on top spot with a 17-6 record. United has now locked in a top two spot for Finals.

Sunday's game will be the last of seven straight on the road for United, before getting home for a Throwdown on Saturday night. They can go a long way to securing a regular season championship with a win over the Kings.

Sydney
98-104 loss away to South East Melbourne
98-104 loss at home to Perth
105-76 win at home to New Zealand

Melbourne
93-77 win away to Brisbane
86-107 loss away to Tasmania
82-81 win away to New Zealand

Jaylin Galloway
There might be bigger name, and more experienced, players on the Sydney Kings, but the presence of Jaylin Galloway on Sunday could very well be a determining factor on how well they perform.

The 21-year-old did hurt a troublesome shoulder late in Thursday night's loss in Melbourne to the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but he is hopeful it won't stop him playing on Sunday and the Kings sure need him.

Defensively he is often given some of the biggest roles from coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah and guarding Melbourne captain Chris Goulding could well be his task come Sunday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena. If not, matching athletic traits with Luke Travers would make a fascinating matchup for him too.

Either way, if Sydney are going to be a chance of beating Melbourne, Galloway needs to have a significant impact.

He sets the tone defensively for the Kings, he gets out and runs and his explosiveness and athleticism make him tough to stop at the offensive end, and he will have a big say in how well they perform.

Coach Abdelfattah might have talked about looking to those with NBA experience on his team to lift them like Jaylen Adams, Jonah Bolden and Denzel Valentine, and he would be right, but their emerging potential future NBA star could have just as big a say as anybody.

"My right shoulder popped a little bit, so hopefully it's nothing too bad, but I'll have to get it checked out. We know what our mistakes are and it's coming to the end of the season and we can't keep making the same mistakes. We've got a game coming up on Sunday, so can't think about it too much. We know what we have to do and we just have to go out and do it. It comes down to physicality and we were just letting them (the Phoenix) walk up the court with no aggression out there, so we have to set the tone from the jump," – Galloway after Thursday's loss in Melbourne to the Phoenix

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr
When you are a team as deep as Melbourne United, you have no shortage of players important to your cause, but perhaps there are none more so than Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

He showed just how valuable he was in Friday night's win in Brisbane against the Bullets, where he made a dominant return.

United beat the Breakers, but lost to the JackJumpers in the games he missed, and Next Star Ariel Hukporti had done a more than admirable job holding down the fort in the absence, but when Lual-Acuil returned on Friday night, he was a man on a mission.

Whether he was spurred on just wanting to make up for missing the last two games, whether it was the matchup he seemed to thrive on against former NBA star and Boomers champion Aron Baynes, or he simply just wanted to ensure Melbourne won, he played like a man possessed.

The result was a career-high 33 points for the imposing centre, on the back of shooting 12-of-17 from the field, including going two-of-three from beyond the arc and seven-of-ten at the free-throw line, along with 13 rebounds and three steals.

He was in unstoppable form because he was either too big, too nimble or simply too good for whoever was guarding him at the Bullets. The job at the Kings for Jordan Hunter and Jonah Bolden will push them to the limit.

"Basketball is something I obviously love doing and it was tough being on the sidelines watching the games, but I'm just happy to be back. I didn't have a point to prove other than just trying to help the team win. To be fair, I feel like I have an advantage any time I catch the basketball and that's just my mentality and how I go about things and the confidence that I have in my game because of the work that I put in. It's nothing new, you're just seeing the results of days of hard work." – Lual-Acuil Jr after Friday's win in Brisbane.

Jaylen Adams vs Matthew Dellavedova/Shea Ili
When Jaylen Adams is giving MVP level production and effort, the Sydney Kings are a mighty tough team to beat. He will need to do that on Sunday, but it will be anything but easy, up against Matthew Dellavedova and Shea Ili.

Ili made his return for United on Friday night in Brisbane and while he came off the bench having missed the previous two games, his impact was significant both in terms of his intensity and ferocity on defence, but also providing that extra ball-handler and playmaker.

Already without Ili, Dellavedova was playing at a high level both defensively and as that playmaker, and now that the duo is back together, they will combine their efforts on Sunday afternoon to try and limit the impact of Adams for the Kings.

It's a must-win game for the Kings if they want to not only stay in the top six, but stay in the hunt for a top four position, and Adams will be key to everything they do.

With Sydney's back to the wall two Sundays ago after losing in Adelaide, Adams was spectacular with a season-best 39 points against the New Zealand Breakers.

He has been good since, combining for 53 points and 11 assists the last two games, but they have been losses at home to Perth and away to South East Melbourne. He needs to keep doing all that offensively, but also set the tone energy-wise defensively for the Kings to be any hope.

Playing on the road holds no fears for United who are playing a seventh consecutive match away from Melbourne, with the league-leaders having won 14 of the last 18 road games overall. However, Qudos Bank Arena hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Dean Vickerman's team, with the Kings winning eight of the last 10 home matches against United.

Sydney has also won the first half in each of the last five games against Melbourne, including leading 52-38 at half-time back on November 19 at John Cain Arena. United took charge in the second half of that game with 67 points to 40 in the second half to win by 12, having earlier trailed by as much as 19.