Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Kristian Doolittle combined for 52 points as Perth Wildcats booked a semi-final date with Sydney Kings by thumping Melbourne United.
A second-half demolition job after a second-quarter slumber has propelled the Perth Wildcats to a comprehensive 95-77 win over Melbourne United in the NBL play-in game.
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (28 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks), Kristian Doolittle (24 points) and Dylan Windler (18) were the stars at RAC Arena on Saturday as the Wildcats emphatically booked a semi-final berth against the top-ranked Sydney Kings.
Perth trailed by 11 late in the second term, before smashing United 23-10 and 28-14 across the last two quarters.
Import trio Milton Doyle (13 points), Tyson Walker (12) and Jesse Edwards battled hard for Melbourne, whose stuttering season – on the heels of back-to-back grand final appearances – came to a limp end.
Perth started nervously, coughing up three turnovers before they’d even registered a point, before settling and embarking on a 17-0 spree to turn a 5-12 deficit into a 22-12 advantage.
Melbourne scored the last seven points of the term, capped by Walker’s layup on the quarter-time bell, to trim the gap to 22-19.
United maintained that momentum in a commanding second period during which they dominated the Wildcats 34-22 to pull ahead 53-44 at halftime.
The Wildcats were out-rebounded 14-5 for the term, while their defence was found wanting all quarter.
The second half would be a complete reverse of that.
Stung into action, Doolittle and Lual-Acuil combined for 21 points for the term as Perth’s bigs bossed the glass 17-6 to move ahead 67-63 at three-quarter-time.
Doyle’s tip-in to start the final term reduced the gap to 67-65, before the Wildcats embarked on another 17-0 run to blow the contest away.
Melbourne went ice-cold, missing 12 straight shots as they went scoreless for more than six minutes.
They were out-rebounded 19-8 in the fourth as Perth continued to march from strength to strength.
