Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has demanded answers after a “crazy” decision denied Matthew Dellavedova a match-winning free throw before Perth upset his team in overtime.

Perth improved a horrible road record and shot life into their season with a dramatic 102-95 Monday night defeat of the ladder leaders.

The one-sided extra period came after a rollicking final 90 seconds of regular time, when both teams thought they’d done enough to win the game multiple times.

Jordan Usher was rocks or diamonds in those moments; hitting a three-pointer to give Perth the lead then, with the game tied, missing both free throws when just one would have sealed a win in the final second.

United battled injuries to three of their starting five but still looked to have found a way to improve to 9-1 behind the returning Dellavedova (23 points, six assists).

UNREAL SCENES AT JOHN CAIN ARENA!!!!!

Watch overtime live on ESPN via Kayo ???? pic.twitter.com/fkdypVdwo0

— NBL (@NBL) November 6, 2023

The NBA championship winner thought he had earned a chance to seal the game at the stripe when he was fouled while scoring a tough lay-up with one second to play.

But the foul was reversed after a Perth review, the two points standing to tie the game before Usher’s free throws rimmed out in a final twist to an incredible regular-time climax.

United coach Dean Vickerman rued a lack of execution at crucial moments but saved a blast for the officials in his post-game press conference.

“I go back and watch it after the game and say (Perth’s Alexandre) Sarr hit Delly on the arm,” he said of the call that was reversed in the final second.

“Someone is going to have to tell me what happened on that play … we should be shooting a shot for the win. To overturn that is crazy.

“When things decide a game we need to get the film … we need (clarification) as quickly as possible.”

Dellavedova was back after a four-game absence due to concussion but United have a new head injury concern after Luke Travers fell while driving to the hoop in the first minute of the game and headbutted teammate Ariel Hukporti’s knee.

Travers played no further part, while Hukporti returned with his knee strapped and battled in a 10-minute effort. He could be in doubt for their next clash, with South East Melbourne.

United’s woes were compounded when Ian Clark grabbed at his troublesome hamstring in the second period and was put on ice.

Jo Lual-Acuil (25 points, 10 rebounds) put United on track for a backs-to-the-wall victory but Perth wouldn’t go away as they clinched a pressure-relieving win for coach John Rillie.

Bryce Cotton (24 points) injected himself after a quiet first half while Kristian Doolittle (18 points, seven rebounds, five assists) was assured and Jesse Wagstaff played a calm bench cameo.

It was just Perth’s second win from their last 10 road trips and improved them to 4-5 after a victory over the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday snapped a four-game losing streak.

“We just found a way,” Rillie said. “I only care about how our team plays … everyone can have their opinion but Stevie Wonder saw we weren’t playing good.

“If you really believe in your team it usually works itself out.”

Kings break NZ hearts in thriller

DJ Hogg’s starring performance and a late three-pointer from Shaun Bruce have sealed the Sydney Kings’ 87-85 win in their NBL grand final rematch with the New Zealand Breakers.

With the Kings down by a point in the final minute of Sunday’s game in Sydney, the ball passed through hands at the top of the arc before finding second-unit guard Bruce.

The 32-year-old let it fly from long-range and the ball bounced up before falling into the rim, forcing an NZ timeout.

Breakers import Anthony Lamb (29 points, seven rebounds) had the chance to tie the scores when he stole the ball from Hogg with 30 seconds remaining but could not get his shot off as he was fouled.  He missed the ensuing two shots from the charity stripe.

Countryman Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s attempt at a buzzer-beater from three also bounced from the rim, thanks to some steely man-to-man defence from Bruce.

The Kings held on for a win that proved just as tight as the sides’ grand final series last season.

Just as they did then, the Kings triumphed, improving to 6-3 to begin Mahmoud Abdelfattah’s first season in charge.

Hogg (18 points, seven rebounds, five assists) celebrated his first home game as a King by leading the scorers for the home side. He hit four threes from eight attempts, including one that gave Sydney a five-point lead at the final change.

The loss renews pressure on a Breakers outfit that snapped a four-game losing streak in their last start, but that has now slumped to 2-5.

Despite the best efforts of ex-NBA forward Lamb, who had 17 first-half points, the Kings maintained the lead for most of the first two quarters. But Tom Abercrombie hit two threes in an 11-1 run to begin the third quarter that put New Zealand back in the fight.

With eight minutes left in the game, Lamb tied the scores at 75 by bursting through the paint for a lay-up that forced a Kings timeout.

Jackson-Cartwright (18 points, five assists) hit a three that gave the Breakers their first lead since the first quarter with just less than seven minutes to play. But that was before Bruce came up clutch late.

Williams guides Phoenix past Tassie

Big man Alan Williams has cemented his status as an NBL MVP favourite by guiding South East Melbourne to a 91-78 defeat of the Cairns Taipans.

The Phoenix led for the majority of Sunday’s game at John Cain Arena but did not appear assured of victory until the final two minutes.

When fellow work-horse Mitch Creek (21 points, 11 rebounds) hit back-to-back baskets after Williams fouled out, the lead was 14 points and South East Melbourne appeared home.

Under new coach Mike Kelly, the Phoenix have won five of their past six games to remain entrenched in the top half of the ladder.

“Huge possession game, the guys did a great job of continuing to attack those O-boards, which was good,” Kelly said.

“They took care of the ball for the most part. It was the little things like that that were key for us.”

When he was fouled pulling down a defensive rebound, Williams (18 points, 15 rebounds) went to the charity stripe to confirm his double-double by half-time. He has three from five games this season. 

On the defensive end, the American blocked Bobi Klintman with 20 seconds left in the third quarter as the talented Next Star looked to cut Cairns’ deficit to three points.

Instead, the Phoenix marched up court where Creek iced a three for an eight-point lead at the final change.

As he did in his side’s last-start loss, Williams ran into foul trouble late on but demonstrated his importance when he came back on to restore a game-high 10 point lead in the final quarter.

Semi-finalists last season, Cairns have lost three of four games since returning from their trip to the USA for the NBA pre-season, including back-to-back games in round six.

The Taipans rued their 65 per cent shooting from the free-throw line and cried out for the composure of injured guard Patrick Miller (back) down the stretch.

“We sucked, we were terrible. Let’s call it for what it is, it was a bad basketball game,” said Taipans coach Adam Forde.

“I think this was the first time we broke a little bit mentally.

“We should be better and we will be better.”

Big man Sam Waardenburg could consider himself lucky not to have fouled out in the third quarter when he remonstrated with the referees following his fourth foul.

Forde hastily substituted him out and the tech foul went on the Cairns bench instead.

But with their leading scorer to that point of the game on the pine, the Taipans began to fall off the pace.

“We’re relying on him unnecessarily at the moment to try and get everybody else going,” Forde said of Waardenburg. 

Guard Tahjere McCall returned from the personal leave he took for the birth of his child in the US but did not hit a field goal until the mid-point of the final quarter.

He had only two assists for the game to go with one from eight shooting from the field.

Cotton bounces back in Cats’ win over Sixers

Bryce Cotton was back to his old self as he lifted the Perth Wildcats to a pressure-easing NBL victory and declared he felt like the three-time MVP winning version of himself for the first time this season.

After his 29-point showing on Saturday night in the 99-88 win over the Adelaide 36ers at RAC Arena, Cotton’s message was simple about his bounce-back performance.

“It feels good, I won’t lie, to have my first game coming out like this,” Cotton said.

“I don’t know who that other guy was wearing my jersey for the first seven games. It feels good to be back.”

Since Cotton joined the Wildcats midway through the 2016-17 NBL season, he has proven an unstoppable force, winning three league MVP awards along with leading Perth to three championships.

However, his start to this season had been anything but up to his usual standards and things hit a precarious point following last Friday’s loss at home to a shorthanded Brisbane Bullets.

Not only was it a fourth consecutive loss for the ‘Cats, but Cotton struggled on 3-of-19 shooting for 10 points and fingers were being pointed in all directions over where the problems stemmed from.

Cotton’s wife, Rachel, venting in defence of her husband on social media didn’t help matters either and it was a long eight days to wait to play arch-rivals the Adelaide 36ers back at RAC Arena.

It might not have been the perfect Wildcats performance as they gave up a 20-point third quarter lead and then had to come from behind to win, but the 99-88 victory steadied things.

Cotton put the team on his back and Hyrum Harris was hugely influential even if his numbers of nine points and six rebounds don’t tell close to the story.

Cotton helped the ‘Cats lead 50-44 by halftime and then to open up a 20-point lead in the third quarter with three bombs from downtown. He ended with 29 points and four assists on 6-of-14 three-point shooting.

The 31-year-old who has now played 208 games with the Wildcats never doubted that his form would return.

“I’ve always been a rhythm player so no matter if I’m in a slump at the moment or whatever, I know all it takes is one shot or given these circumstances, one game for me to find the rhythm,” Cotton said.

“I definitely felt that out there, but credit to my teammates. They did a great job looking for me, setting good screen and helping me get open. It was a great team effort but luckily I was able to capitalise on it.”

The Wildcats take on the league leading Melbourne United on the road on Monday night, who are fresh, fully healthy with the return of Matthew Dellavedova and on a six-game winning run.

Tasmania edge out Bullets in frenetic NBL finish

Softly spoken import Milton Doyle has called for his fair share of free throws after helping the Tasmania JackJumpers to a tense 87-85 NBL win over the Brisbane Bullets. 

The JackJumpers snapped the Bullets’ three-game winning streak and broke a two-game losing run of their own, on Saturday evening in Launceston.

Doyle top-scored with 24 points after a quiet few games – and just seven points in a tight loss to the same opposition six days earlier.  “My goal for this game was to be a little more aggressive,” he said. 

“I watched some clips with the coaches … I got to 10 shots last game and the game before that. My goal was just to get more shots up. I get more shots up, more will go in.” 

After trailing 45-41 at halftime, Tasmania produced their best third quarter of the season with Doyle landing three three-pointers.  Tasmania shot 13/35 three-point attempts, compared to the Bullets’ 2/13. 

In contrast, Brisbane were 25/31 at the free-throw line, while the JackJumpers were just 10/11. 

“I don’t know what it is, but I would appreciate getting some free throws,” Doyle said. “I watch all these guys yell and scream every time somebody touches them. Just because I don’t do that, doesn’t mean I don’t get touched.” 

Tasmania took a 75-66 lead into the last quarter but Brisbane wouldn’t say die, with Tyrell Harrison pulling off a run of six points to reduce the margin to three. Neither team scored in a chaotic end-to-end final two minutes. 

Brisbane’s Mitch Norton missed two free shots during that period while former JackJumper Sam McDaniel couldn’t nail a shot that would have tied the game with mere seconds left.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller said his side at times looked tired playing their fourth game in nine days. 

“But I’m really proud of the fight in the group,” he said. “To hold Tassie to 12 in that last quarter and give ourselves three chances to win the game. There is still some satisfaction in that.”

It was revenge for the JackJumpers, who went down to the Bullets by three points on Sunday and are now 5-4 for the season. Harrison was Brisbane’s highest scorer with 20 points and also picked up eight rebounds. 

Tasmania jumped out of the blocks, reaching 9-0 early before holding a 21-19 margin at the end of the first quarter. The Bullets fought their way to the lead early in the second quarter and got in front by as many as nine points. 

Doyle landed an important three-pointer on the halftime buzzer and then went back-to-back with threes early in the third quarter. Brisbane, who finished second bottom last season with eight wins, have five wins from their first 10 games in 2023-24.

Kings humble Hawks at home

The Sydney Kings have emphatically snapped back to form with a 103-83 thrashing of local rivals the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong.

The back-to-back reigning NBL champions slid to 4-3 with consecutive losses ahead of Friday’s match but parlayed a 32-18 third-quarter into a gaping victory and a return to the winner’s circle.

“It was great. Guys stepped up,” Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah said.

“It starts on the defensive end, we’ve got to get stops consistently and I thought we did that for good stretches throughout the entire 40 minutes.”

As they have in recent games, the Hawks were left to rue a period of poor shooting from the field that ultimately left them with too much work to do.

In a six-minute stretch either side of half-time, Illawarra landed only two of 13 field goal attempts just as the Kings were getting their eye in.

The lead ballooned from four points to 20 in this period and reached 26 late on before the Kings put their big names on ice.

“The biggest piece right now is guys not being positive when they’re not a part of what’s happening offensively and it kind of pours into our defence,” said Hawks big man Gary Clark.

“At times we have multiple guys who aren’t defensive-minded guys on the court and one little lapse and everything falls apart.”

Tyler Harvey’s struggles with the ball were most pronounced. The Hawks import hit only one of 11 shots from the field for the night.

In total, Sydney made 14 shots from downtown to Illawarra’s five – just one of the statistical areas dominated by the visitors.

The Kings racked up 10 more rebounds (50-40) and 13 more assists (24-11) than their opponents.

Makuach Maluach (16 points, three rebounds) was an unlikely hero from the bench while the game was still close.

“Kudos to him,” Abdelfattah said.

“Honestly without his stretch in that first half, that kind of took the lead from two to eight, who knows where we’d be?”

Maluach shot all of his first six attempts from the field, including four from three-point range, and finished as equal top scorer with import Jaylen Adams. In his second game after a shoulder injury, DJ Hogg (13 points) joined Denzel Valentine as the Kings’ most prolific scorer in the decisive third quarter.

Both had eight points for the period including two baskets each from long range as the Kings piled on the pain.

Clark (23 points, seven rebounds) was once again a shining light for the Hawks but early foul trouble kept his American countryman Justin Robinson (10 points, four assists) quiet until late.

The Kings have now won their last eight games against their cross-town foes. They have also retained the Adrian Hurley Cup by winning the first two of four regular-season games between the NSW rivals this season.

Breakers bounce back to conquer Cairns

The New Zealand Breakers have breathed life into their sputtering NBL campaign with a much-needed 91-81 defeat of the Cairns Taipans in Christchurch.

Staring down the possibility of a 1-5 start, last season’s runners-up cleaned early turnovers out of their game and rode a 30-17 third quarter to victory on Friday night.

Ex-NBA forward Anthony Lamb (game-high 19 points) hit three three-pointers in the space of 90 seconds to help turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 12-point lead at the final change.

The Kiwi side never again trailed.

The win hoists last season’s runners-up from the bottom of the ladder and stops the rot after a campaign start disrupted by injuries and a trip to America for the NBA pre-season.

“It’s fairly satisfying,” Breakers coach Mody Maor said.

“You could see there was a level of connectedness, the way they played. They created for each other. It’s a very good step for us.”

Breakers guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright (13 points, seven assists) shook off knee soreness and was influential early in the third term as the Breakers got going.

Benched to begin the game, Boomers representative Will McDowell-White helped stick the boot in late with a three-pointer just after the final change.

He scored 12 of his 14 points in the final term – more than any other Breaker. The Taipans sit at 3-3 ahead of Sunday’s road clash with South East Melbourne.

“The level of disappointment by that team in the locker room right now, you know, they are feeling the loss,” Cairns coach Adam Forde said.

Without Patrick Miller (back injury) and Tahjere McCall (personal leave), the Taipans’ back-court lacked punch.

Highly rated guard Taran Armstrong managed only seven points and one assist on his NBL debut following a foot injury.

“He naturally will critique himself harder than anyone else,” Forde said.

“That was his first hit-out and he’s only going to get better.”

Bul Kuol (18 points, three rebounds) was again a workhorse for Cairns, coming 64 seconds short of playing 40 minutes for a second consecutive game, with Lat Mayen (18 points, seven rebounds) also big.

But they struggled for support, in no small part due to impressive Next Star Bobi Klintman finding himself in foul trouble early. 

Cairns were never able to take full advantage of the Breakers’ lack of size, with American big man Zylan Cheatham out for at least another five weeks.

Mangok Mathiang took on a mountain of work in the post for the Breakers and finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

“I have high expectations for Mangok and the last two games have been a step in the right direction,” Maor said.

American guard McCall rejoined the Taipans following the birth of his child and is a chance to return against the Phoenix.

“Tahj, from the flight, didn’t pull up that great so there was no point putting him in a high-risk category to hurt himself,” Forde said.

Baynes back from ban to guide Bullets home

Aron Baynes has returned from his NBL suspension with a bang as the Brisbane Bullets posted their season-high score in a 108-92 win over South East Melbourne.

Alan Williams’ foul trouble and Gorjok Gak’s calf injury hurt the Phoenix in a heated encounter at Nissan Arena on Thursday night.

Baynes (12 points, seven rebounds), Tyrell Harrison (14, eight) and Josh Bannan (17, 11) cashed in on the opposing big men’s issues, exerting their influence for the home team.

Baynes started on the bench on his return from a five-game ban over his ugly stoush with the Cairns Taipans in round two.

The NBA championship winner copped an early knock to his left knee, temporarily forcing him to the sidelines, but he was a key figure for Brisbane.

“He was outstanding. He was really able to put them in positions where we were able to draw some fouls on them,” Bullets coach Justin Schueller said.

“Just having the big fella back and his experience, his presence … he was great tonight.

“He’s done it tough while he’s been out, but he’s been a great teammate the whole way, and we couldn’t wait for him to get back.”

Baynes was part of a Brisbane bench that produced a combined 50 points, while a total of seven Bullets finished in double figures.

“That to me is what tonight was about – that we got a real collective effort – and I couldn’t be happier,” Schueller said.

The result was a third straight win for the resurgent Bullets and ended South East Melbourne’s four-game winning streak.

Both teams have 5-4 records heading into their weekend games to complete round six.

In a wild start to Thursday’s contest, opposing stars Nathan Sobey and Williams were both called for unsportsmanlike fouls in separate incidents within two minutes of tip-off.

Williams had three fouls in the first period alone, and Gak’s early injury left the Phoenix undersized.

Baynes and Harrison combined for 21 first-half points to steer the Bullets to a commanding 59-42 lead at the main break. Phoenix guard Gary Browne (25 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals) helped cut the deficit to as little as six points during the third period before Brisbane steadied.

Fellow import Williams managed 14 points and seven rebounds, but was walking a fine line after racking up four first-half fouls. He eventually fouled out midway through the final period.

South East Melbourne star Mitch Creek had 20 points, but left plenty on the free-throw line, where he went 7-for-14. The Phoenix collectively shot at a lowly 64 per cent clip from the foul line, frustrating coach Mike Kelly.

“There was no problem with the energy and the fight and the togetherness of the guys,” Kelly said. “But I think we must connect it better and be on the same page more often for us to be a legitimate winning team in this competition.” 

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