Preview: Adelaide v Melbourne - Round 14, NBL24

Thursday, January 4, 2024

After handing the defending champions a 16-point loss on Thursday, United will be riding high on the road in Adelaide.

After a dominant showing against the defending champions Sydney, Melbourne United will head to the 'city of churches' to play the Adelaide 36ers.

Saturday, January 6 at 8pm AEDT | Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

After handing the defending champions a 16-point loss at home on Thursday, United will be riding high heading into this clash against the 36ers.

Coming up against the league’s best offence and defence, the 36ers have a mighty task ahead of them if they want to reward their loyal home fans.

Adelaide lost by seven points to the hottest team in the league, Illawarra, last week. Limiting Tyler Harvey to only 11 points and shooting 40 per cent from the field as a team, the 36ers were a couple of different decisions and a handful of triples away from an upset.

However, Melbourne will be roaring into this game in the midst of their cross-country road trip — with six different players scoring in double-digits and hitting 12 threes to secure the road win.

Formguides

Adelaide
84-91 loss to Illawarra
82-100 loss to Perth
95-88 win over Brisbane

Melbourne
101-85 win over Sydney
78-95 loss to Cairns
109-103 win over Perth

Ian Clark
Flourishing in his new role with United, the NBA and NBL champion will make his return to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre for the first time this season.

Having missed the first-round clash in Adelaide, he played his old team for the first time in mid-December in Melbourne.

With all cylinders firing in United’s roster, we must look to the bench for an x-factor if things go poorly in the starting group - Clark’s speciality.

Winning titles with the Golden State Warriors and Sydney Kings as a scoring spark plug off the bench, Adelaide knows all too well how quickly Clark can catch fire.

Clark is averaging NBL career-highs in scoring (14.4 points per game) in NBL24 and shooting at an incredible clip, 50 per cent from three.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ian Clark absolutely ?????? the OT dagger ??<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo <a href="https://t.co/zrPq7jbI3A">pic.twitter.com/zrPq7jbI3A</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1738520694655168832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Isaac Humphries
Putting up an impressive 26 points and nine rebounds against the Hawks in Round 13, Isaac Humphries put on a show against one of the best defensive front courts, albeit in a losing side.

Scoring the majority of his points in the first half, he set the tone early for Adelaide – before the Hawks were forced to put the clamps on. Despite the massive numbers, Humphries knows that solely doesn't result in a win – stating in last round’s post-game press conference that would be on his mind all week heading into this game.

“So I’ll be trying to work all week and thinking about it all week to try to redeem myself in that game (against United),” Humphries said post-game.

United arguably lacks the size to guard Humphries, but makes up for it with elite athleticism and length between the likes of Luke Travers, Ariel Hukporti and Jo Lual-Acuil. Can Humphries overcome his former team? We will find out in Adelaide.

Isaac
Isaac Humphries.

Luke Travers vs Jacob Wiley
Two of the premier forwards in the league will go head-to-head on Saturday night, as potential future NBA player Luke Travers will face off against a man with worldwide experience - Jacob Wiley.

Receiving another piece of praise from the Cleveland Cavaliers front office in December, Travers and everyone watching are well aware that he will be NBA-bound at some stage in the near future. However, consistency is key and Travers fell back into a rut in their New Year’s Eve game, only scoring eight points – scoring 13+ points in the last six games before that.

He missed United's game against Sydney with an ankle injury suffered in the warm-up, and has been labelled a "pretty good chance" of taking on the 36ers.

On the other side, seasoned veteran Jacob Wiley knows exactly what to do, and how to do it – averaging 11.5 points and 7.7 rebounds for NBL24. The hyper-athletic forward knows when it’s his time to strike and when his team needs it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wiley has taken ?????? ??<br><br>What can't this guy do today?!<br><br>Watch live and free on ESPN2 via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach and 10 Play <a href="https://t.co/dvFitTdJQS">pic.twitter.com/dvFitTdJQS</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1738780854086717759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In a perfect time slot on Saturday night, NBL fans will be tuning in and watching these two forwards battle it out on both ends of the floor.