NBL Round 20 2025: Finals spots, fixtures locked in after Melbourne United’s victory over South East Melbourne Phoenix
Melbourne United has condemned its bitter rival to a trip west in NBL finals after staging a second-half comeback to win the last Throwdown of the regular season. See the play-in fixtures here.
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The deficit had extended out enough for Melbourne United fans to have a few nervous moments, but their fast finishing side got it done down the stretch to overrun South East Melbourne Phoenix 103-93 in a hard-fought Throwdown at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.
Knowing a loss of around 23 points could dislodge United from second spot, a 12-point United deficit early in the third quarter was a cause for concern.
But United went on a momentum swinging 12-0 run from the 7.24 to the 4.52 mark in the third quarter to not only squash any chance taking a significant enough loss that could see them be leapfrogged by third-placed Perth Wildcats, but also get back into the contest.
United’s clinched victory to square the Throwdown ledger at 2-2 on the season.
United veteran Matthew Dellavedova was huge in the third quarter when his side needed a lift.
Dellavedova finished with 14 points and six assists, but his impact should not be measured solely in the box score.
Back court partner Shea Ili set the tone early with 18 points.
United did it without star forward Jack White, who missed with a back injury.
How did Marcus Lee get this? 😳
— NBL (@NBL) February 8, 2025
Watch live on ESPN 📺 pic.twitter.com/BQ8915sb8F
Forward Kyle Bowen was ready to go as his replacement, producing a gritty 15 points and seven rebounds.
Nothing changed ladder wise for United, it finished the season in second spot and is playoff bound, while Phoenix has to take the long road via the play-in tournament.
United is one of the form teams in the competition, entering the post-season on the back winning six of their last seven games of the regular season.
Phoenix is bound for Perth to play the third-placed Wildcats in the seeding game on Tuesday night.
It was a good workout for Phoenix with six players scoring double digit points, including Ben Ayre with 15 off the bench and MVP candidate Matt Hurt with 14 to go with seven rebounds.
The priority for Phoenix was to come through unscathed and they appeared to have no one showing ill effects post game.
PHOENIX UP FOR THE FIGHT
Despite it being a dead rubber game for Phoenix, the designated visitors came out with an intent to make life difficult for United.
Phoenix forward Joe Wieskamp did to United guard Shea Ili what Ili is used to doing to his opponents, stealing the ball in the back court and bowling over United centre Rob Loe en route to the basket.
It was a measure of Phoenix’s desperation to complete the series win over crosstown United.
Phoenix guard Nathan Sobey looked dangerous early, completing a three-point play and draining a three, while United sharpshooter Chris Goulding connected on an early three to extend his streak to 90 appearances of at least one three-point shot made.
They were Goulding’s only points of the first half as one of the league’s top scoring weapons was largely invisible in the first half.
BRUTAL START
There was no self-preservation from either side with playoffs around the corner.
A loose ball late in the first saw a scrum of bodies launching recklessly for the ground ball and the referees appreciated the endeavour, letting the boys play.
Reigning defensive player of the year Ili was the heartbeat for United early, ensuring the hosts held a slender 30-26 lead at quarter time.
Ili scored nine points on a perfect 4/4 shooting in the first.
When Owen Foxwell, a most improved nominee, picked the pocket of United centre Marcus Lee to tee up Wieskamp for a three, scores were level midway through the second.
After United had again edged in front, Phoenix went on a barnstorming 12-1 run to gain control.
You could sense the United fans were tense as their side trailed 54-46 at half time.
Phoenix extended its lead to 12 early in the second half after a three-point play from Foxwell.
But a 12-0 United run midway through the third settled the nerves of the home side, all but ensuring there would be no big loss to dislodge them from second.
Forward Tanner Krebs was superb off the bench for United 16 points.
TASSIE SEASON ENDS ON HIGH AFTER CRAWFORD MASTERCLASS
A second-half Jordon Crawford masterclass has led Tasmania to a 90-83 win over the Cairns Taipans at MyState Bank Arena on Saturday night.
The win broke the JackJumpers’ five-game losing streak and punctuated the club’s first season of no play-off action.
The JackJumpers had to win their last home-and-away game by 65 points to tip six-placed Adelaide out of the play-offs. They finished on the same wins but the 36ers went through on a better percentage.
JackJumpers coach Scott Roth had to settle for his team being seventh and best of the rest.
Game MVP Crawford was teary when he spoke about his potential basketball future.
“Tasmania is home so if this is the last time, it has been great. I want this to be home but you never know,” Crawford said.
Cairns drew first blood and it soon turned into a Milton Doyle versus Taipans contest in the opening minutes when he sank 12 points for the home team to lead 16-14.
Big Snake Sam Waardenburg struck big trouble early when he was sent off for an unsportsmanlike foul deep into the first.
Taipans coach Adam Forde had already used his coach’s challenge on what appeared to be a frivolous call against a shooting foul less than two minutes in, and while the Cairns bench steamed the JJs jumped to a 26-18 lead.
A Majok Deng slam dunk and foul extra point, and Crawford bucket and foul extra point, put the JJs up 34-20.
Forde then copped a tech foul for his antics on the sidelines as Tassie stretched its lead to 17.
Doyle also copped as unsportsmanlike foul when a shot-block included the face of Waardenburg as the Jackies went to the long break 49-41 with the Taipans yet to hit a three-pointer from 10 attempts.
The Taipans found their venom in the third when they cut the deficit to a few points in the opening minutes as Alex Higgins-Titsha (13 points) Tanner Groves (11 points) found the bucket.
Leading by five heading into the fourth, Tasmania did enough to keep the Taipans at arm’s length in the run home as Groves was fouled out for the eighth time this season.
The Taipan’s Tasmanian captain Taran Armstrong (16 points, five rebounds) followed his match-winning triple-double heroics against Brisbane with an anti-climax performance in his home state.
COTTON’S BIG NIGHT PUTS RIVALS ON NOTICE
- Brett Keeble
Bryce Cotton and the Perth Wildcats have thrown a late challenge to Melbourne United with a 112-104 win over the Adelaide 36ers at RAC Arena on Friday night.
The final game of the NBL regular season will determine the final make-up of the top three teams, with United needing to beat South East Melbourne on Saturday to keep second place; or keep a losing margin to less than about 22 points.
Cotton’s 49 point performance led Perth to the win, but the Wildcats percentage probably didn’t advance by as much as they needed it to.
Assuming the ladder positions don’t change after Saturday’s game, the Seeding Qualifier will be played between the Perth Wildcats and South East Melbourne Phoenix, in Perth.
Adelaide went into Friday night’s game in Perth knowing sixth was its final placing.
The 36ers will play the fifth-placed Sydney Kings in the Play-in Qualifier after the Kings loss to the Illawarra Hawks earlier on Friday.
MVP hopefuls on display
Three of the 12 players short-listed on Friday for the NBL’s MVP award were on the RAC Arena court and they all put on a show.
Having two of them didn’t quite go in Adelaide’s favour, because of the other one, Cotton, who has already won four.
Cotton went nuts in the final term. He scored 16 points in the first five minutes of it. He finished with 21 for the quarter, on his way to 49, to go with seven assists.
Adelaide can do damage in the finals though.
Montrezl Harrell looked like he wanted the result put out of doubt early. He had 10 points by quarter time and added the 36ers first six points of the second term. He finished with 24 points before fouling out midway through the final quarter.
Kendric Davis scored nine points in the last four minutes of the second quarter to see his side into the break with a 56-49 lead. He didn’t let up, finishing with 34 points and eight assists.
Pressure at the line
Perth struggled with the pressure early, with so much on the line.
The Wildcats, ranked first in the league for free throw percentages, missed all three of their attempts from the line in the opening term.
And they were shooting at only 50 per cent from this avenue by halftime (7-14), while trailing 56-49.
Things gradually got better for them though.
They finished with a percentage of 71.4 (20-28), with Cotton dropping 10 of 11 attempts.
Cats helping hands
Cotton may have starred but he had help.
Both Dylan Windler and Keanu Pinder recorded double doubles.
Windler had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Pinder had 18 points and 11 boards.
Kristian Doolittle also had nine assists to go with 14 points.
KINGS STAR FACES NERVOUS WAIT AFTER LATE EJECTION STUNNER
- Brett Keeble
Star playmaker Jaylen Adams is in danger of missing Sydney’s National Basketball League elimination play-in game after being ejected in the final minutes of their 95-75 loss to Illawarra at a sold-out WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong on Friday night.
In a typically fiery encounter between the arch rival clubs, the former league MVP poked Illawarra’s Wani Swaka Lo Buluk in the face after they became tangled up under the basket with less than four minutes remaining and the Hawks leading 83-71.
The play was reviewed, Adams incurred a disqualifying foul, and he was sent to the locker room.
Jaylen Adams has been ejected from the game after this incident with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk.
— NBL (@NBL) February 7, 2025
Watch live on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/XvUFXKFfNO
The fifth-placed Kings now face an anxious wait to see if the NBL takes any further action before their sudden-death showdown against likely opponents Adelaide next week.
It was a frustrating night for Adams and the Kings, who were also without Xavier Cooks. The former NBL MVP sat out the game for personal reasons, his only absence all season, and the Kings hope he is back on court for their play-in eliminator.
HOW SWEET IT IS
Illawarra iced the sweetest season of their 47-year NBL history in front of their adoring fans with a 20-point blowout of their fiercest rivals.
It was the Hawks’ sixth straight win against the Kings, after losing the previous eight straight, and marked their first 4-0 season sweep of Sydney since the 2015-16 season.
The Hawks had already secured top spot on the ladder with their 96-82 victory over New Zealand on Wednesday night but were still determined to finish the regular season on a high against their big-city big brothers.
Even without injured stars Trey Kell III (hip/groin) and Darius Days (hamstring), the Hawks had too many weapons for the Kings to deal with.
Sharp-shooters Tyler Harvey and Hyunjung Lee led Illawarra’s scoring with 15 points each, and were well supported by Davo Hickey and big men Sam Froling and Lachlan Olbrich (12 apiece).
The Hawks will now enjoy a 21-day break before hosting their best-of-three game semi-final series on February 28. The game against the Kings was Illawarra’s seventh sellout this season.
BRIGHT START, BAD FINISH
The Kings started with energy and poise and built an early 18-13 advantage, capped by Cam Oliver’s one-handed slam, but the Hawks responded with a 14-3 run for a 29-24 lead at quarter-time.
Illawarra extended their lead to 40-29 midway through the second period, as Sydney stars Oliver (three) and Jaylen Adams (two) headed to the bench with foul trouble.
Adding injury to insult, Tyler Robertson went to the locker room clutching his ribs after a mid-layup collision with Illawarra’s Mason Peatling, though Robertson returned to complete the half.
The Hawks cleared out to a 44-31 edge before Kouat Noi and Makuach Maluach led a 7-0 Kings run but Illawarra steadied and went to halftime enjoying a 50-39 lead.
Sydney cut the deficit to 65-61 by three-quarter time as both teams struggled to hit the target but the Hawks opened the final term on a 9-0 run to stretch the margin to 74-61 and were always in control down the stretch.
King Kouat
Koaut Noi’s claims on the Sixth Man and Defensive Player of the Year awards seem undeniable after another standout performance for the Kings.
In the absence of Cooks, who missed the game for personal reasons, and foul trouble to imports Oliver and Adams, Noi filled the scoring breach with an equal team-high 14 points.
TAIPANS STAR ENDS BULLETS SEASON WITH TRIPLE-DOUBLE
— Jake Garland
An inspired Taran Armstrong has claimed his first NBL triple-double as the Taipans closed the curtain on the Brisbane Bullets finals chances with a 12 point win at Cairns Convention Centre.
Armstrong finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists as Cairns claimed a 100-88 point win in the clubs final home game of the season.
The Bullets had to win to keep their slim finals hopes alive and early in the third quarter they opened the door and hit the lead for the first time in the game.
But it was a late third quarter combination of Armstrong and Sam Waardenburg (23 points, seven rebounds) that pulled the lead back in the Taipans way as the duo combined for 16 of the 25 points.
Armstrong and Waardenburg remain uncontracted with one game left of the season.
Despite what looked like a serious knee injury in the second quarter, Bullets forward Casey Prather (19 points and five rebounds) with Keandre Cook (28 points and seven rebounds) led the way for Brisbane.
The Taipans will now head to Tasmania to take on the Jackjumpers as the reigning premiers look to keep their finals chance alive.
While Brisbane will now look to the off season and build their roster to return to finals next season.
BULLETS INJURY SCARE
A scare went through the Brisbane Bullets camp with powerful import Casey Prather going down midway through the second quarter.
Prather went to assist his teammate by helping him up and slipped causing his right knee to buckle underneath him.
The 33-year-old went straight to the hands of the physio but soon returned to the court despite still looking in some distress.
Taipans’ Pedro Bradshaw slipped on the same area as he went to put up two points just seconds before.
Prather isn’t contracted for the NBL next season with the forward in demand from a number of teams.
ARMSTRONG, WAARDENBURG SPECIAL
Cairns’ two biggest leaders Taran Armstrong and Sam Waardenburg put on an absolute clinic in the third quarter as the two shared buckets.
Armstrong continually found Waardenburg, including the highlight of the third with an alley-oop midway through the quarter.
The Bullets grabbed the lead early in the quarter, for the first time of the game but Armstrong lifted with Waardenburg following his skippers lead as the Taipans turned a five-point deficit into a seven-point lead through the third.
WORTH HIS MONEY
Taran Armstrong may have had a season that has been plagued by injury but his final performance in front of the Cairns crowd which included his first ever NBL triple-double will make the point guard in hot demand for next season.
Taipans coach said earlier in the season that he was fending off calls from NBA clubs and he showed why he is deserving of one.
The 23-year-old finished with 28 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds leading his side to a 12 point victory as he commanded the ball and led the plays throughout the night.
All eyes will be on the Tasmanian to see where he goes during the off season and where he will end up next season.
Originally published as NBL Round 20 2025: Finals spots, fixtures locked in after Melbourne United’s victory over South East Melbourne Phoenix
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