United hand the Kings a thumping in semi-final game one
A merciless Melbourne United are a win away from the NBL grand final series after an emphatic game one victory at Melbourne Arena on Thursday night.
Melbourne led from the opening play until the finish to take a 95-73 win and a 1-0 lead in the best of three semi-final series.
The reigning champions were confident their finals experience from last year would hold them in good stead against the Sydney Kings, who hadn’t played in post-season since 2009, and this proved the case as Melbourne made more shots and forced the visitors out of their regular offences.
What will please Melbourne most was the depth of their contributors as Casper Ware and Josh Boone fired early, Chris Goulding dominated the second term and then Ware, Goulding and DJ Kennedy drove the team home.
Ware topped Melbourne's list of points-getters with 22 as Kennedy added 20, Goulding 17, Mitch McCarron 15 and Boone 14.
Bogut was shaded by fellow former NBA big man Boone who ran him hard early and made every offensive possession difficult, but as a team the Kings couldn’t make their offence work and it fed into Melbourne’s running of the game.
Brad Newley led the Kings with 17 and Kevin Lisch and Jerome Randle added 13 each.
Ware set the tone for Melbourne from the opening play of the game nailing a three and following with two others as the home side jumped out of the blocks.
But Lisch and Newley responded and soon Bogut found his range as the Kings tied it 24-24 at quarter time.
Bogut was rested early in the second term and Melbourne sensed a chance to gain the momentum, Chris Goulding caught fire, knocking down 11 points for the quarter as Melbourne took a 43-33 lead, Sydney couldn’t find a way to slow the home side whose lead went out to 52-35 at half time.
No team has come back from a double-figure half-time deficit in a semi-final since 2010 but the Kings gave it a shot to start the third quarter. The visitors cut the lead to 10 points, before Melbourne steadied as Goulding found Alex Pledger for a dunk with a pretty bounce pass.
Kings forward Deng Deng made an impressive cameo late in the third scoring some quick points but DJ Kennedy was fired up for Melbourne, scoring and drawing fouls as the home side led 71-53 at three-quarter time.
The Kings tried to up the tempo in the last term and made a little headway but the home side held steady as Goulding nailed a party-trick three from deep in the corner to top off the win.
The two teams meet in Sydney on Sunday for game two with the Kings fighting for their season and Melbourne for a return to the grand final series.
If game three is needed it will be at Melbourne Arena on Tuesday night.