Goulding red hot as unbeaten Melbourne topple Breakers
Shayne Hope |
Dean Vickerman might not be able to keep Chris Goulding out of Melbourne United’s starting line-up much longer after the veteran sharpshooter steered his team to a 104-88 win over New Zealand.
Goulding, who sat out the first month of the season with a quad injury, rose from the bench for the third straight game at John Cain Arena and top-scored with 23 points.
The 36-year-old’s tally came on 8-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-8 from long range, in less than 19 minutes on court.
Tanner Krebs (17 points) and Tyson Walker (16) were also among Melbourne’s most influential players – five of whom scored in double figures – in a dominant team performance.
It gave the title favourites a perfect 7-0 record to open the new campaign, after their losses in the last two championship series.
The last time United started with seven consecutive wins was in their 2020-21 title-winning season.
Melbourne coach Vickerman has enjoyed rotating his roster through the opening rounds, with Tyson Walker (29:35) the only player to feature for more than 20 minutes against New Zealand.
He is taking a cautious approach with Goulding, who also scored 22 points in 19 minutes against Brisbane on Friday night.
“I feel good … I spent a long time in the off-season on the sidelines so we’re being smart with minutes,” Goulding told ESPN after Sunday’s game.
“The plus-side of that is it’s a great opportunity for (other) guys to go out there and play some minutes in crunch moments, which I think is going to be great for our group going forward.
“There’s obviously some things we look at where we know we need to be better coming towards the back end of the year, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really happy with where we are.”
New Zealand had shown improved form across their previous three games but were no match for Melbourne and slipped to 2-6, above only struggling Illawarra on the ladder.
Izaiah Brockington (25 points) top-scored for the Breakers, who didn’t get anywhere near enough defensive stops to challenge their hosts.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright (20 points, nine assists, nine rebounds) and Sam Mennenga (16 points) also fought hard in a losing cause.
Melbourne, who smashed New Zealand by 32 points at home in round one, never trailed on Sunday and flexed their collective muscle on a 17-2 run to take control the contest before halftime.
Brockington’s 16 first-half points prevented it from being a complete blow-out, but he was out-done by Goulding at the other end.
Melbourne’s key weapon had 18 first-half points on six-of-eight shooting, including five-of-six from deep, to help his side to a commanding 56-38 lead.
New Zealand’s 9-0 run, sparked by threes from Mennenga and Jackson-Cartwright, trimmed the deficit to nine points midway through the third period.
But Melbourne steadied and kept their opponents at arm’s length in the closing stages.
“We kept fighting and sometimes we had good runs,” Breakers coach Petteri Koponen said.
“Melbourne are a really good basketball team at the moment and everybody else in the league is trying to chase them.
“But we are getting better, we are improving, and that’s the most important thing.”
Goulding has now gone 101 consecutive appearances with at least one successful three-pointer, after becoming the first player in NBL history to reach triple-figures two days earlier.
New Zealand are back in action at home to Brisbane on Thursday night, while Melbourne have games against Cairns (Friday, away) and Adelaide (Sunday, home) in round six.
AAP
