"Punched in the mouth": Phoenix beaten at own game

The South East Melbourne Phoenix will be the first to admit that Thursday’s Throwdown loss to crosstown rivals Melbourne hurt in more ways than one.

Not only did United move to 22-10 all-time over Phoenix, but Melbourne’s Round 22 win also ended the top-two hopes of Josh King’s side.

What proved to be the difference between the teams was the rebounding count (50-33), which included the Phoenix giving up 20 offensive boards.

“They (United) deserved to win, as they beat us at our own game ... 20 offensive rebounds is too many,” King said in the post-game press conference.

“In that first half, they came out the more hungry, more dominant team.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth. They were more physical. They were more aggressive and they played at a higher level than us with physicality and aggressiveness for longer parts of the game.

“Usually we're that team, but they they brought it to us tonight and you got to give them a lot of credit.

“[In the same vein] I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting back but [it’s up to us to] match that.

“I'm always going to back my guys, but we need more guys to step up and have better performances [moving forward].”

The Phoenix will now finish the season in third spot, with their Seeding Qualifier opponent still to be determined.

Upon reflection on the season to date, King is proud of his troops.

“We're a team that not a lot of people thought we're going to be any good this year, we can't forget that,” King said.

“[Now] I feel like when we're at a level that we've played at for a lot of the season where we we can beat anybody.

“[But tonight showed] you can't only play for certain segments of the game, especially this time of the year.

“[We’re in a good spot], but know we will have to be better come the playoffs.”

Round 22 of the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Season continues on Friday night with a double-header on ESPN.

Firstly at 7.30pm AEDT, Brisbane hosts Sydney before Perth battles Adelaide from 9.30pm AEDT.