3 minute read
Rob Edwards scored 23 points to lead Cairns to a surprise 101-88 road win over heavyweights Melbourne, two days after toppling reigning champions Tasmania.
Cairns coach Adam Forde insists nothing changes for his side after they made an NBL statement with successive wins over last season's championship series combatants.
The Taipans completed their impressive round with an upset 101-88 road win over Melbourne on Sunday, less than 48 hours after toppling reigning champions Tasmania 90-78 at home.
"We've got to stay consistent with what we're doing," Forde said post-game at John Cain Arena.
"Now that there's a little bit of, let's say it's called belief, we have to stick with what we're doing.
"Monday's review is just going to be as bad as if it was a loss because there's a lot of areas we need to work on."
Rob Edwards (23 points) starred as Cairns continued to live up to their role as Melbourne's bogey side, posting a sixth win in seven meetings.
It came despite import centre Tanner Groves (calf) sitting out, with Kyrin Galloway (16 points), Sam Waardenburg and Akoldah Gak (14 each) stepping up.
Rising star Taran Armstrong tallied 14 points, six rebounds and four assists despite injuring an ankle during the warm-up and taking a whack to the nose from a stray Marcus Lee elbow.
"He's tough. He's got a blood nose and comes back out and he's ready to go," Forde said.
"He's a unique 22-year-old. He's really just cut from a different cloth.
"This is his second year as a professional and it will be kind of cool to see what that's going to blossom into."
United veteran Chris Goulding finished with 22 points but only managed three in the second half when Cairns took over.
Both sides were trigger happy from the outset in a frantic opening, putting up 20 three-point attempts between them in the first period as Melbourne took a 27-23 lead.
But Cairns had plenty of answers and led 58-54 at halftime on exceptional 11-of-19 three-point shooting, with Galloway (16 points) and Edwards (13) outstanding.
The buffer grew to as much as 19 points early in the last quarter and while the Taipans struggled to put Melbourne away, their advantage was sufficient to hold off the home team's challenge.
United forward Jack White (15 points) admitted the performance was a let-down after a dominant road win over Perth on Friday night.
"We're not expecting to play our best basketball in October, that's for sure, but how we defended on Friday night ... we were trying to emulate that today," White said.
"The energy of being on your home floor for the first time this season, you want to make a statement.
"And especially against a team that had success against us last year, we want to come in and play the right way and get a win.
"So we're disappointed with that."
Cairns open round four hosting Perth on Thursday night, while Melbourne have a full week to prepare for a home clash with Adelaide next Sunday.