It was a night meant to celebrate one of Tasmanian's best basketball products so in some ways it was surprising to see a former Israeli National League player guide Melbourne United to a 76-72 win.
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After facing a double-digit deficit early in the game, the defending champions needed all of their stars, especially Jo Lual-Acuil, to guide them past the JackJumpers' defensive resistance.
Without Will Magnay due to COVID protocols, the JackJumpers' small-ball line up looked to disrupt early up the court and it worked well with a seven-point scoring run in the opening term as they searched for lay-ups and points in the paint.
"We know they played a tough, defensive brand that I really enjoyed going against, it's going to make us a lot better," Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman said post-game.
"We knew with Magnay not being in there today we were going to see a lot of switching or a lot of aggressive coverage and the aggressive coverage was good for them."
United wanted to raise the tempo early but as the quarter went shot-for-shot, they searched for Lual-Acuil (19 points, seven rebounds) under the post to maximise the height mismatch over Tasmania or pass it out to the perimeter.
One of those passes saw Launceston's Chris Goulding (14 points) hit a deep three over Jarred Bairstow to become the first United player to reach 600 three-pointers in a showcase of his talents, notching four for the game, and making his mark in his home state.
Vickerman and Co. were left looking for answers after the JackJumpers' early court pressure and fast-shifting ball movement created a five-point buffer at the first break.
United struggled to carry the ball against the JackJumpers' two-person press as the visitors, one of the league's worst second-quarter teams, struggled with turnovers (22-9) and to find in-roads into the home side's lead early in the term.
Josh Adams (23 points) continued to enjoy his rhythm at MyState Bank Arena as he proved an offensive force again for Scott Roth's side to ensure the scoreboard ticked over.
United kept their nose to the grindstone as they ramped up the energy in transition and frenzied after offence rebounds. A line-up studded by Goulding, Lual-Acuil and Matthew Dellavedova looked to next star Ariel Hukporti, with his combination of speed and height, as the German bustled to the rim dragging United to a slight lead at the main break.
"A lot of the guys that started on the bench came in and gave us that real energetic punch in solid defence, and get out in transition and [help us] drag that back at halftime," Goulding said.
"So that's pleasing that we could get an impact like that from our second unit."
Melbourne's superior shooting efficiency (31-57 (54 per cent) kept them in the game despite the JackJumpers creating a greater quantity of shots (27-71 (38 per cent), as the home side failed to bury the visitors which left the match tight heading into the final stanza.
"It was self-inflicted wounds with our group, they played extremely hard, I was very proud of them across the board, you know you're playing a championship calibre team," Roth said.
"At the end of the day we lost a lot offensive possessions, our defence hung in there for a bit but we still had some breakdowns there."
The JackJumpers had found themselves in the front at the final change for the third game in succession, including the United fixture. The question at MyState Bank Arena was would they close it out like the Breakers game or fade under the pressure like the Kings match-up.
The answer came from Lual-Acuil who dropped a two-pointer under the rim in the dying embers to lengthen the United buffer to six before Josh Magette cut the buffer to its final standing.
It may seem a small moment but in a quarter where everyone struggled to execute, Lual-Acuil's ability to do the fundamentals was the reason United enjoyed a winning start to the new year.
"You can't make a lot of mistakes, they'll make you pay for them and we made a few mistakes at critical times offensively but also on the defensive [end]," Roth said.
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