Melbourne still high after epic NBL playoffs battle

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Melbourne still high after epic NBL playoffs battle

Melbourne United are riding high into the NBL championship series after booking their ticket with victory in a game being dubbed the best in league history.

Chris Goulding and Ian Clark fired as United outlasted long-time rivals the Perth Wildcats in an epic playoff series decider, which ended 113-112 on Tuesday night.

It was only settled with less than one second left on the clock when Goulding landed the crucial free-throw.

The result sent last year’s runners-up Melbourne back to the best-of-five title series, where they will face the Illawarra Hawks.

“I’m feeling excited,” United coach Dean Vickerman said on Thursday.

“It was an amazing series that we just came through and what better way to prepare for a final with the runs that went in that (Perth) game and how resilient you had to be as a team.”

Despite the tight turnaround before Saturday night’s championship series opener in Wollongong, Vickerman was happy to relive the unforgettable win over Perth.

Goulding’s game-winning free-throw came after Wildcats veteran Jesse Wagstaff had tied the scores with a clutch three with 2.9 seconds on the clock.

Rob Loe in-bounded to Matthew Dellavedova, who found Goulding under the bucket, where Perth youngster Ben Henshall fouled the United skipper and sent him to the line.

“(Wagstaff) is a big-time player, always makes big shots, but I looked up and we had time to go the other way,” Vickerman said.

“I just tried to get my own focus on what was the best play for that situation and the boys executed it to perfection.”

Goulding (30 points) and Clark (38) were outstanding for Melbourne, while Kristian Doolittle (37) and five-time league MVP Bryce Cotton (33) could just as easily have won the see-sawing contest for Perth.

During the broadcast, NBL legend Andrew Gaze led a chorus of big calls when he said: “I don’t think you’ll see a better game of basketball anywhere in the world.”

In the aftermath, Vickerman simply told his players they should feel privileged to be a part of the extraordinary contest.

“You can put that up against games in the Olympics or whatever, but we just know it was an elite game of basketball with the shot-making from both teams,” Vickerman said.

As the dust settles on that special win, Vickerman and United are turning their attention towards the championship series.

The Hawks will have home-court advantage after finishing one win clear of Melbourne on top of the regular-season ladder.

“We know we’ve got to win one up there and that’s the message that I preached this morning,” Vickerman said.

“The earlier you can get that, the better.”

Melbourne beat Illawarra in Wollongong in October, but have since lost to the Hawks both home and away.

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