NBL: Brisbane Bullets shoot down Melbourne United with three-point blitz
The Brisbane Bullets have gone the long way home with a stunning run of three-pointers to surprise Melbourne United and keep them in the tight race for a top-four position.
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A deadly outside shooting performance has powered the Brisbane Bullets to an upset 102-96 win over Melbourne United.
United saw an early double-digit lead erased at Melbourne Arena on Sunday as Brisbane connected on 16 three-pointers to stun last season’s grand finalists on their home floor.
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Lamar Patterson made seven triples on his way to a game-high 35 points, Nathan Sobey added 24 while Jason Cadee provided scoring punch off the bench with 6-of-9 shooting from long range in his 21-point haul.
The victory keeps Brisbane in touch with a glut of teams fighting for a top-four spot as they bounced back from Friday’s heartbreaking three-point home defeat to the New Zealand Breakers.
United made five of their first six shots from beyond the arc but then went cold, shooting 5-for-26 from distance the rest of the way to drop their second home game in four days despite the efforts of Shawn Long (25 points) and Chris Goulding (16 points).
United’s outside shooters came out firing to open the match while Long attacked the basket at every opportunity as he waged an entertaining battle with Bullets big man Will Magnay.
But just when the home side was looking comfortable, Brisbane closed the term on an 8-0 charge as Patterson and Sobey combined to cut United’s lead to 29-27.
Centre Alex Pledger made a welcome return from injury for United in the second quarter but it was one of their few highlights as Cadee splashed three triples in quick succession to see the Bullets take their first lead of the game.
The home side rallied to close the gap to one on the brink of halftime but Patterson’s last-gasp three-pointer beat the buzzer as the Bullets edged ahead 55-51.
Patterson picked up where he left off in the third quarter, scoring on a lay-up then adding three three-pointers while Cadee drew a foul from Shea Ili as he made his fourth triple of the game, completing the four-point play to extend Brisbane’s lead to 10.
United reduced the margin to 80-75 heading into the fourth quarter but poor finishing around the basket proved costly as the Bullets closed out the victory.
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Originally published as NBL: Brisbane Bullets shoot down Melbourne United with three-point blitz