Melbourne United wary of Sydney Kings star Damion James

MELBOURNE United will have to deal with NBA championship winner Damion James if they are to defeat Sydney Kings.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - DECEMBER 11: Damion James of the Kings is blocked by Tai Wesley of the Breakers and Alex Pledger of the Breakers during the round 10 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Sydney Kings at Vector Arena on December 11, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE United will have to deal with NBA championship winner Damion James if they are to defeat Sydney Kings.

United are back at Hisense Arena, looking to make amends for Thursday’s thumping 119-89 loss to the Wildcats in Perth.

Sydney are bottom of the NBL ladder but have been bolstered by the addition of the new import.

James, who was part of San Antonio Spurs’ 2013-14 championship side and also played for New Jersey Nets and Brooklyn Nets, has replaced the injured Josh Childress.

The 28-year-old American forward came off the bench in his first game for the Kings on Sunday night, an 87-69 home loss to the Wildcats.

“I watched the game on Sunday night and obviously it is going to take time for him to get completely comfortable, as it does anyone,” Melbourne co-captain Daniel Kickert said.

“Just by looking him up, you can see he is able to score from multiple positions, so we’ll do our scout on him and be ready for that.”

It has been a difficult month for Melbourne, losing five of the past seven games after a 9-0 start to the season, but Kickert said every team experienced tough times.

“You’ve got to expect that losses are going to come,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to respond. We’re fortunate enough to have put up a lot of wins on the board and be in a position where we are still ­sitting up the top and looking good for going down the stretch.

“We’ve got a few tough games coming up and we want to get them before we have a really big road stretch coming.”

Damion James remains a danger for Sydney, even after the Kings’ horrible season.

It has been a horrid start to the season for Sydney, with three wins and 12 defeats.

But they still has plenty of talent and point guard Jason Cadee, who always seems to trouble Melbourne, is enjoying a brilliant season.

“You just have to look at some of the wins they’ve had,” Kickert said of the Kings.

“You can’t underestimate anyone, whether you’re at home or on the road.”

Melbourne have beaten ­Sydney twice this season, but Kickert said he expected to face a different Kings team.

“The toughest thing about this league is you’ll play a team four times and you’ll see a different team four times.”

Originally published as Melbourne United wary of Sydney Kings star Damion James