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PERTH tonight revealed wins are cheaper by the dozen when it halted the NBL leading Melbourne United's winning streak at 11 while also showing it doesn't truly need Will Magnay.

While all the talk this week has surrounded the Wildcats' drive to secure the 208cm Magnay who is completing quarantine in Sydney after an NBA shot with New Orleans and G-League action with Erie Bay Hawks, the question is, do they need him?

Yes, he's a great late season fit in place of the one player from the club's 2020 championship it did not replace, namely Nick Kay.

But after bouncing back tonight from another loss to New Zealand, you have to wonder how much they need the insurance Magnay provides, considering their thorough dismantling of United in Melbourne. Where Magnay would have been a foil for Melbourne's exciting young power forward Jack White, White's season sadly already has been foiled by injury.

As a "grand final preview", tonight's killing left no doubts about the direction Perth is heading but a few questions over United, though most notably one big one. What the hell is coach Dean Vickerman doing with his substitutions?

Sure, an 11-game winning streak is nothing to scoff at, but five on, five off during the first quarter? That's not even really acceptable in junior basketball unless you're trying to make some point. But when your team is in control? That's smack your forehead stuff.

 

 

 

   ROUND 16 - GAME BY GAME

 

 

CHRIS Goulding's 14-point first quarter against New Zealand was heaven-sent for United considering Jock Landale left the game injured after just 36 seconds.

Scotty Hopson stepped up against his former club with 25 points at 56 per cent in just 19:30 of court-time, Jo Lual-Acuil the most effective with his career-best 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, plus nine boards and two blocks.

Goulding had 19 (5-of-8 threes) at halftime, Corey Webster leading New Zealand's ill-fated charge with 20 points at 50 per cent and six assists.

MELBOURNE UNITED 90 (Hopson 24, Lual-Acuil 23, Goulding 19, Lual-Acuil 9 rebs; McCarron, Goulding, Barlow 3 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 76 (C.Webster 20, McDowell-White 12, Abercrombie 11; Delany 9 rebs; C.Webster 6 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 2,173

* * *

PLAYING without heart or spirit, South East never was going to beat a focused Brisbane, its plight made worse when Ryan Broekhoff played just 7:13 before copping a facial injury which required stitches from an errant Nathan Sobey elbow.

Lamar Patterson was making a meal of the Phoenix who had Mitch Creek taking just six shots and as passive as his lack-lustre teammates.

Izayah Mauriohooho-Le Afa worked hard to inspire SEM who had Kyle Adnam taking bad shots and no-one committed defensively.

When Sobey and Anthony Drmic started rolling, this was going to be another very bad day at the office for the Phoenix.

BRISBANE BULLETS 94 (Patterson 27, Sobey 20, Drmic 15, Hodgson, Froling 11; Hodgson 9 rebs; Sobey 8 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 82 (Moore 18, Gliddon 17, Te Rangi 12, Creek 11; Moore 8 rebs; Mauriohooho-Le Afa, Creek 4 assts) at The Fire Pit, John Cain Arena. Crowd 1,026 

* * * 

BREAKERS boss Dan Shamir seemed calm and relaxed as he called timeout with Perth ahead 11-3 in Launceston.

By quarter-time, New Zealand was 28-23 clear - a 25-12 turnaround for those playing along at home - and the Wildcats were in another street fight with their former nemesis.

That early eight-point lead was Perth's biggest of the game.

John Mooney collated a fine personal tally with 25 points at 67 per cent, nine boards, five assists, two steals and a block, his dunk at the death tying it 84-84.

But there still was enough time for Shamir to fashion a last play and Levi Randolph showed his value as he brought up his 18th and 19th points with the match-winning basket over tough defensive pressure.

New Zealand had great contributions across the board, three players in double figures, one on nine and four with eight points.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 86 (Randolph 19, Abercrombie 14, T.Webster 12; Iverson 5 rebs; Randolph, C.Webster 4 assts) d PERTH WILDCATS 84 (Mooney 25, Blanchfield 21, Cotton 19; Mooney 9 rebs; Mooney 5 assts) at the Silverdome, Launceston, Crowd: 1,621

* * *

DANIEL Johnson's 350th NBL game was memorable for all the right reasons as Adelaide comfortably saw off Adelaide-Lite, er, Brisbane, to keep itself mathematically in the Final Four picture.

That picture was anything but rosey for the Bullets who struggled with Lamar Patterson hobbled by injury and no-one all that interested in maintaining the rage.

Josh Giddey made some more history by producing his second consecutive triple-double - 15 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists - to keep happy the multitude of commentators and pundits who live by such stats.

Also enjoying his best ever game as a pro, Keanu Pinder's 19 points included 3-of-5 threes, making even Craig Moller take notice.

Nathan Sobey worked hard to compile a 20-point haul and Matt Hodgson rewarded all of his former 36ers fans by springing for free Hungry Jack's cheeseburgers all around.

ADELAIDE 36ERS 101 (Johnson 26, Pinder 19, Giddey 15, Dech, Humphries 13, Paul 11; Giddey 11 rebs; Giddey 13 assts) d BRISBANE BULLETS 79 (Sobey 20, Hodgson 19, Drmic, Froling 9; Hodgson 9 rebs; Sobey 8 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 6,138

* * *

HOW Adam Forde's Kings crew continue to find the fight to throw a scare into teams above them remains a remarkable achievement in itself, way before Sydney just ran out of manpower against formidable United.

When Chris Goulding wasn't scaring refs with the ball, he was taunting Sydney, his 21 points including four triples.

Missing injured centre Jock Landale, Melbourne too had adjustments to make as Jo Lual-Acuil stepped it up with 20 points at 67 per cent, nine boards, three blocks, two assists and a steal.

Sydney may have perfected the "next man up" mentality - until it simply ran out of men - but United has endured its issues with injury too, Scotty Hopson's 18 points big and the 33-13 final quarter obviously decisive.

Casper Ware battled gamely for a game-high 25 points and Xavier Cooks, as usual, was on the Kings' scoresheet. But, come on now. Who are they kidding?

MELBOURNE UNITED 103 (Goulding 21, Lual-Acuil 20, Hopson 18, Peatling 12, Baba 11; Lual-Acuil 9 rebs; Mccarron 8 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 78 (Ware 25, Kickert 13, Moller 12, Bruce 10; Moller 11 rebs; Bruce 5 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 2,214

* * *

PERSISTENCE pays. That's the only reasonable conclusion after watching depleted Illawarra smoke New Zealand in Launceston.

The Hawks cut Deng Adel and still are missing Cam Bairstow, whose nickname should be amended from Bear to Mr Brittle. In fairness, New Zealand went into this one minus Perth-win hero Levi Randolph.

But that's just it. Coming off another win over the Wildcats, New Zealand should have been feeling great about itself, its 23-18 first quarter buffer suggesting as much.

For long periods, Tyler Harvey kept the Hawks alive, 21 of his 29 points in the first half as Illawarra grafted back to be 40-40 at the main interval.

From that point on though, whenever the Breakers looked ready to break away, Illawarra simply wanted it more and grafted back into the ballgame.

That broke the Breakers and as Illawarra pulled 72-59 clear, it was going to take an NZ miracle. They challenged for a minute or three, dragging back to 67-72 before Harvey and ice-in-his-veins Isaac White finished it from the stripe. Justin Simon also was instrumental in the Hawks win.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 75 (Harvey 29, Simon 12, Froling 11; Simon 7 rebs; Ogilvy, Froling 3 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 67 (T.Webster, Abercrombie 14, McDowell-White 13, C.Webster 10; Delany 9 rebs; T.Webster 5 assts) at the Silverdome, Launceston, Crowd: 1,097

* * *

A 10-1 start paved the way for Adelaide to comfortably handle Cairns all evening, going into the first break ahead 27-9 and showing a measured control of the game that never waivered.

With Sunday Dech clamping down on Scott Machado, it was only Majok Deng, returning from injury for the Taipans, who caused the 36ers' defence any problems, and that wasn't consistently either.

Brandon Paul showed his bona fides with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, plus five assists and three steals to lead the Sixers, whose only issue all game was trying to keep Isaac Humphries on court and away from foul trouble.

ADELAIDE 36ERS 92 (Paul 18, Crocker, Giddey, Johnson 15; Johnson, Paul 10 rebs; Giddey 6 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 76 (Deng 16, Ngatai 12, Dufelmeier 9; Jois 9 rebs; Machado 7 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 5,087

* * *

MELBOURNE had one job - beat Perth now before the Wildcats beef up still further.

And United started with a flurry, racing 19-12 clear and in control. Chris Goulding had seven points (he would finish with 10), so coach Dean Vickerman subbed him off. But he also subbed out every other starter.

Yeah. That's a good plan when your guys are humming along.

In no time at all, Perth peeled off a 16-0 run, with John Mooney on his way to an NBL career-high 30 points with his 14 rebounds, Bryce Cotton also double-doubling with 16 points and 10 assists.

Once the Wildcats had their tails up, Melbourne was never going to catch them, a confused Goulding with five turnovers and some of the most wayward passing he has ever put together in a single game.

But let's be blunt. United became Untied yet again with the substitution pattern - pattern? What pattern? - and Trevor Gleeson once more capitalised by keeping it calm and simple.

PERTH WILDCATS 82 (Mooney 30, Cotton 16, Blanchfield 9; Mooney 14 rebs; Cotton 10 assts) d MELBOURNE UNITED 69 (Landale 11, Baba, Goulding 10; Lual-Acuil 8 rebs; McCarron 5 assts) at The UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 2,011

* * *

Round 16 (What We Learnt)

*Perth very much is starting to look like New Zealand's bunny;

*Sydney simply has run out of bodies, but not heart;

*On its way to a club record 11-straight wins, depleted Melbourne was impressive;

*Deng Adel is courting Jeremy Kendle for career advice;

*Jack McVeigh is being criminally underplayed and should be one of the hottest free agents ahead of next season;

*Any spectator continuously making threatening throat-cutting gestures across the court to an opposition player should be removed from the venue by Security, even if he is a club sponsor. Nate Jawai deserved much better than that, and Adelaide fans once were renowned for knowledge, not idiocy;

*The Breakers are gone, dead, finished as any sort of playoff threat this season, losing to the Hawks guaranteed that. But if you believe they won't shape that Final Four, you haven't been paying attention;

*If only Melbourne had a few more players for Dean Vickerman to sub into the first quarter;

*Perth is back to title favourite, with or without The Magnate;

*Might just be a coincidence but the Wildcats didn't make it to bonus in the second quarter against United but amassed four fouls in the first 63 seconds of the final quarter. Comment Adam Forde?

QUOTE of the WEEK

"It's a cool achievement but more important, we got the win which is what we were hoping to do, make a late finals push. So, whether I have zero points or 20, it doesn't matter to me, so long as we're getting Ws, that's all that cares. The chance to get a win in front of our home fans is awesome for us, you know but as I said, we're trying to make a push for the finals so every W counts for us."

- Adelaide 36ers' tyro Josh Giddey answering yet another question about his triple-double and showing wisdom beyond his 18 years to reveal what it is that really matters.

TOMORROW: TEAM of the WEEK