United dominate Bullets at Blitz

New Melbourne United import pair Tyson Walker and Jesse Edwards combined for 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in 98-60 win over the Brisbane Bullets at the CODE Sports NBL Blitz in Canberra.

Both teams were completing their Blitz pre-season campaigns at the AIS Arena with Melbourne having lost to the Perth Wildcats back on Wednesday while the Bullets came from behind to beat the Sydney Kings on Thursday.

Melbourne were closer to full strength with Chris Goulding into the line-up for the first time this pre-season with only Shea Ili missing with Brisbane without Tyrell Harrison, Alex Ducas and Jacob Holt.

United raced out to the hot start with the 16-3 lead in the first six minutes with Finn Delany and Milton Doyle knocking down three balls in that run.

Melbourne went on to lead 20-11 by quarter-time but Brisbane did work back into the contest with 28 points to 23 in the second term to cut the United lead to four at half-time.

The Bullets could then never get closer than four in the third quarter before Melbourne blew the game out in the last period with 34 points to four on the way to the eventual 38-point victory.

Melbourne went on a 19-0 scoring run as they took advantage of being just about at full power while the Bullets were without some guns and Casey Prather didn’t play the second half.

United ended up shooting 53 per cent from the field to the 29 per cent from Brisbane and it was Melbourne's two new imports that were especially impressive.

Tyson Walker was encouraging as the new Melbourne point guard and finished with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds while hitting both his three-point attempts.

Dutch big man Jesse Edwards also put up 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks on 6/7 shooting with Finn Delany also having 15 points, six boards and four assists.

Kyle Bowen also had 10 points and three rebounds, Tanner Krebs eight points, eight boards and two assists, Chris Goulding nine points, and Milton Doyle nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Tohi Smith-Milner did take advantage of the latitude he was given to top-score for the Bullets with 16 points and four rebounds with 4/7 three-point shooting.

It was a tough night for the Bullets imports, though, with Jaylen Adams finishing with 10 points and two assists on 3/12 shooting, Casey Prather six points in just 12 minutes, and Javon Freeman-Liberty six points, four rebounds and four assists on 1/8 shooting.

The game wraps up the time at the Blitz for both teams but they will do battle once again in a pre-season hit out on the Sunshine Coast on Friday September 12 to wrap up preparations for NBL26.

CODE SPORTS NBL BLITZ 2025/26

MELBOURNE UNITED 98 (Walker 18, Delany 15, Edwards 14)

BRISBANE BULLETS 60 (Smith-Milner 16, Adams 10, Freeman-Liberty 6, Prather 6, Murray 6, Norton 6)

BOX SCORE