Travers, Hukporti ensure perfect Blitz for United

Chris Goulding knocked down six three-pointers with emerging stars Luke Travers and Ariel Hukporti setting the tone for NBL24 as Melbourne United finished the NBL Blitz perfect beating the Sydney Kings 105-87.

Melbourne came into its third game on the Gold Coast at the Blitz on the back of wins against the Brisbane Bullets and the Illawarra Hawks, and it didn’t take long for them to get rolling on Wednesday night against the Kings.

Travers came out and hit the first six points for United with back-to-back three-point plays before a couple of strong finishes from Hukporti. By the time Goulding drained a pair of three balls and Flynn Cameron added another, Melbourne was leading Sydney 19-9.

Melbourne went on to lead 32-28 by quarter-time from there but the Kings had turned the momentum and with especially impressive showings from new-look front court pairing Jonah Bolden and Alex Toohey, the reigning champs were right back into the contest.

United’s lead was just 58-57 after a high-scoring and entertaining opening half but after a Jaylin Galloway hit a three to open the second half to put Sydney on top, Melbourne took control.

From that moment, Melbourne scored 19 of the next 21 points including a couple more three-point bombs from Goulding while Travers and Hukporti were leading the charge with their energy and attacks on the rim.

By the time Goulding knocked down his sixth triple of the game, Melbourne’s lead was out to 18 midway through the third quarter and from there they would win by 18 to leave the Blitz three from three.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Luke Travers was everywhere in the third quarter ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnited</a> star has 19 points, four assists and three steals in only 20 minutes of action ?<br><br>Watch every game live &amp; free via Kayo Freebies ?<br><br>Outside Australia? Watch via ?? <a href="https://t.co/8LoWsbR7E4">https://t.co/8LoWsbR7E4</a> <a href="https://t.co/u6vJia4dFc">pic.twitter.com/u6vJia4dFc</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1704450208002683325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Melbourne was without NBA and NBL champion Ian Clark, but weren’t lacking for firepower. Luke Travers showed his all-round talents with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in an exciting display with 7/9 shooting and 6/6 at the free-throw line.

Captain Chris Golding went 6/12 from three-point range for 20 points but Next Star Ariel Hukporti continues to excite on his comeback from a ruptured Achilles. He had 19 points, eight rebounds, two assists and officially just one block, but he impacted a whole lot more shots than that.

Tanner Krebs added 13 rebounds and five rebounds, Rob Loe 11 points and six boards, and Matthew Dellavedova eight points and four assists.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alex Toohey is cooking early ?‍?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> Next Star scored 10 first quarter points ?<br><br>Watch every game live &amp; free via Kayo Freebies ?<br><br>Outside Australia? Watch via ?? <a href="https://t.co/8LoWsbR7E4">https://t.co/8LoWsbR7E4</a> <a href="https://t.co/goNQtWhE7q">pic.twitter.com/goNQtWhE7q</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1704435128389226520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sydney still has DJ Hogg to come into the line-up but 2022 MVP Jaylen Adams got some run into his legs with 16 minutes for seven points and five assists.

It was Next Star Alex Toohey who impressed the most for the Kings, though, with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists on 6/12 shooting from the floor, 2/4 from deep and 5/6 at the foul line.

Jonah Bolden looks like he’s ready to make a mark too with 16 points and six rebounds with 4/5 three-point shooting while Denzel Valentine produced 11 points, seven boards and three assists.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ariel Hukporti took it from him in mid-air ?<br><br>A monster block by the <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnited</a> Next Star ?<br><br>Watch every game live &amp; free via Kayo Freebies ?<br><br>Outside Australia? Watch via ?? <a href="https://t.co/8LoWsbR7E4">https://t.co/8LoWsbR7E4</a> <a href="https://t.co/k8k1KMCpaj">pic.twitter.com/k8k1KMCpaj</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1704446709756002754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With the win, Melbourne ends the NBL Blitz with three wins to be sitting on top of the standings at this point but Perth and Tasmania have a chance still going into their final matches.

Sydney will end the NBL Blitz on Friday night with a match up against the Brisbane Bullets.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL BLITZ

MELBOURNE UNITED 105 (Travers 21, Goulding 20, Hukporti 19)
SYDNEY KINGS 87 (Toohey 19, Bolden 16, Valentine 11)

BOX SCORE