Melbourne teams conquer NSW on Blitz Day 3

Who performed well on NBL Blitz day three?

Game 5: Melbourne United 85-71 Illawarra Hawks

United continued their red-hot form after beating the Brisbane Bullets on day one, defeating Illawarra 85-71.

Matthew Dellavedova has put together back-to-back 20-point performances in his NBL return, finishing today’s game with a stat line of 20 points, five rebounds and three assists coming off the bench for Dean Vickerman as he settles back from a tight hamstring.

His Boomers teammate Chris Goulding returned to form after a zero-point outing in their first game. The sharpshooter had 14 points on 4/8 shooting from three and a surprising two blocks.

Luke Travers filled the box score yet again with seven points, eight rebounds, and four assists, with a steal and a block to round out his all-around performance.

The Hawks – without import point guard Justin Robinson – struggled in their first hit out across the board, shooting 5/22 (23%) from three and being outrebounded by United 49-41 in the physical encounter.

Starting centre Sam Froling did have 10 rebounds and two blocks but collected 6 points on inefficient shooting (2/9 | 22.2%).

New import power forward Gary Clark was underwhelming in his 25 and a half minutes, putting up only five points and five rebounds in his blitz debut.

Mason Peatling came off the bench and top-scored with 13 points.

Game 6: SEM Phoenix 93-86 Sydney Kings

South-East Melbourne came back from 11 points down at halftime to defeat the Sydney Kings 93-86 being led by injury replacement import Tyler Cook.

Cook, who is replacing fan favourite and league rebounding champion Alan Williams, had 29 points in his second game for the Phoenix, being one of their major offensive focuses throughout the game. He collected nine rebounds, three steals and a block on his way to the victory.

But it would be Gary Browne who led the comeback for the Phoenix, catching fire from three in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to five at three-quarter time. The Puerto Rican had 26 points in just 25 minutes, hitting six big three-pointers in the contest.

Former Taipan Ben Ayre would be the third piece of the Phoenix’s triangle, having 18 points off the bench.

There were major outs for both teams. Phoenix with Mitch Creek, Gorjok Gak, Matt Kenyon and Craig Moller out, and returning MVP Jaylen Adams and DJ Hogg missing for the Kings.

But there were plenty of positives for Sydney to take away from their first game.

The main one is Jaylin Galloway and his attacking nature on both ends of the floor. Starting at small forward, the 20-year-old had 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Next star Alex Toohey being the other. Fighting for that starting forward spot with the aforementioned Galloway and Angus Glover, Toohey dazzled the NBA scouts in attendance with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two stocks.

In action tomorrow is Zylan Cheatham’s New Zealand Breakers versus Jordon Crawford’s Tasmania JackJumpers (5pm AEST), and Bryce Cotton’s Perth Wildcats versus Isaac Humphries Adelaide 36ers (7:30pm AEST).