3 minute read
Chris Goulding's hot hand was a first-half highlight before Melbourne United withstood a huge fightback from the Sydney Kings in a tough NBL victory.
Melbourne United are sweating on Chris Goulding's fitness after the veteran sharpshooter went down with a calf injury late in the NBL ladder leaders' 101-98 win over the Sydney Kings.
Goulding (28 points) spearheaded United's first-half demolition of the Kings' league-best defence before the home side withstood a huge second-half fightback at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
The 36-year-old hobbled off with less than two minutes left and Sydney, who trailed by as much as 16 points early in the second half, twice drew level through Jaylen Adams triples in the dying stages.
But Adams turned the ball over with an eight-second violation in a controversial finish, as Melbourne's Shea Ili and Ian Clark edged their team ahead from the foul line.
Sydney's Izaya Le'afa missed a hurried three-point attempt to tie the game on the final play, handing United the win.
Goulding drained 6-of-10 three-pointers, continuing the run of red-hot form he put together before the FIBA break.
In doing so, he drew level with NBL great Lanard Copeland in fifth place on the league's list of threes made with 1,242 - still well behind all-time leader Andrew Gaze (1,826).
But Goulding will undergo scans to determine the extent of his calf injury as Melbourne (11-4) prepare for tough test away to New Zealand on Thursday night.
"I've coached him over eight years and this is one of the most elite patches I've ever seen from him," United coach Dean Vickerman said.
"Unbelievable confidence, which never has wavered too often, and I thought his body was in a really good place.
"We're flat for him because when things are going great like that you just want to keep playing basketball."
Melbourne put up a remarkable 65 points in the first half, inspired by five triples from Goulding in his personal tally of 20.
Shea Ili (18 points) and Rob Loe (15) were also important for United, as was Jack White (13 points, 12 rebounds) on return from his own calf injury.
"We lost our pace in that second half in all our actions, not just transition pace," Vickerman said.
"We just got bogged down and the ball was bouncing a little bit too much - it wasn't moving like it did in the first half.
"It took Shea to really make plays for us and be aggressive to keep that scoreboard ticking over."
Sydney coach Brian Goorjian felt a perfect storm of factors conspired against his side, including the loss of Bul Kuol to knee soreness in the opening few minutes, after he'd been the planned match-up on Goulding.
Goorjian also lamented the Kings' lack of time to prepare for Sunday's afternoon fixture after beating Cairns away on Friday night.
But the veteran mentor liked the "no quit" attitude of his team, with Next Star Alex Toohey (16 points) hugely influential in the second-half fightback.
Cam Oliver (21 points, six rebounds, six steals) also shone and Adams (10 points, eight assists) delivered in some crucial moments, while Shaun Bruce (12 points) and Keli Leaupepe (11) were important.
"There's a lot to be excited about even though we got smacked in the face," Goorjian said.
"I walk away proud of my team and I thought it was D-Day just from thinking, 'Where do we go from here? Are we going to buckle and say we're not winning this and walk away?'
"A lot of teams on these second games (of road trips) have got beat by 40 and got beat by 25, and I thought that was an easy place for us to go, but we didn't."
Goorjian let emotion get the better of him during the tense final period when he voiced his displeasure over a foul call and was hit with a technical foul.
Sydney (8-7) sit in a log-jam for post-season spots at the halfway point of the campaign, ahead of an away game against New Zealand on Saturday.