Matthew Dellavedova made a triumphant return to the NBL on Thursday night, guiding a new-look Melbourne United to an emphatic 82-67 victory over arch rivals South East Melbourne in the season opener at John Cain Arena.
In his first game back for United, after his most recent stint in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings, Dellavedova scored 12 of his 17 points in the first quarter to set up the comprehensive win. He also pulled down six rebounds.
The result ensured the Mike Kelly era at South East got off to a rocky start, following foundation coach Simon Mitchell’s departure in the off-season.
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Dellavedova wasn’t the only fresh face who starred for United, though, as former Perth Wildcat Luke Travers top scored with 20 points on 7-15 field shooting while he also recorded seven rebounds, a steal and a block.
Ariel Hukporti’s first game back for United after missing all of last season with a ruptured Achilles tendon was also a success as he helped himself to 14 rebounds, three blocks and a steal, while Rob Loe chimed in with nine points and five rebounds off the bench after crossing from New Zealand.
Ben Ayre was the Phoenix’s best with 17 points, including nine consecutive South East points in the third quarter, while Will Cummings added 14 points before being fouled out.
South East shot a woeful 29 per cent from the field (22-74) and only managed two three-pointers by three-quarter time.
Conversely, Melbourne drained an impressive 11-30 from deep (36 per cent) and were far superior from the free-throw line with a 15-17 clip (88) compared to South East’s paltry 18-28 (64).
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UNITED QUELL HOT PHOENIX START
South East made a blistering start by going on a 10-1 run to lead by six points early, aided by the fact that United missed their first six field-goal attempts.
New recruit Cummings was central to everything early for the Phoenix, scoring four points and setting up fellow newcomer Tyler Cook for a spectacular alley-oop. By the midway point of the first quarter, their lead stretched to eight (16-8).
Melbourne responded ferociously with an 11-2 run, including two threes from Dellavedova, which gave them back the lead with 2:40 remaining. The lead proceeded to change four times, as both sides went bucket-for-bucket, before United eased out to a 30-24 advantage early in the second quarter.
SOUTH EAST FALL AWAY
It took the Phoenix almost four minutes to score their first points of the second period, and the more organised United made them pay for their sluggishness by jumping out to a 10-point lead (38-28) 3:35 before half-time on the back of an 8-0 run.
South East headed to the main break down 45-33 after shooting an appalling 26 per cent from the field in the first half (11-41), compared to United’s 38 per cent (16-42), which included 40 per cent from three (6-15). The Phoenix could only manage one of nine buckets from deep (11 per cent).
But South East were also let down badly by turnovers in the first half (6-1), and Melbourne made them pay the price by dominating points from turnover (12-2) at half-time.
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UNITED RUN AWAY WITH IT
Things didn’t get much better for the Phoenix as they slipped into a 55-38 hole midway through the third stanza, and from there, there was no coming back for them as the margin remained in double-figures for the remainder of the second half.
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