Star import sends scare through NBL during huge win
Melbourne United superstar Cole Anthony sent an injury scare through the NBL when he went down with an apparent knee injury late in his side’s derby win over the Phoenix in Melbourne.
In the fourth quarter, Anthony went down clutching at his knee. Replays showed he had stepped on an opponent’s foot as he surged towards the hoop and awkwardly rolled his ankle, but it looked as if his knee was the main cause for concern.
Cole Anthony clutched at his knee after going down in the fourth quarter of his side’s win over the Phoenix. Getty Images
He came from the court, but returned minutes later as his side clinched their first win of the season with a crushing 86-61 victory. He finished the match with 18 points.
Speaking post-match, United coach Jacob Chance said it was a "knee-on-knee" knock.
The 26-year-old is in his first season in the NBL having been cut by the Milwaukee Bucks. His career earnings in the NBA exceed $58 million across the Bucks and Orlando Magic.
The Phoenix put in a woeful shooting performance, and their four points in the final quarter set a new benchmark for lowest scoring quarter in the league's history.
Coach Josh King apologised to the fans after his team went just 24-from-88 from the floor, including a ridiculous 4-from-41 from three-point range. 61 is also the Phoenix’s lowest-ever score since joining the league ahead of the 2019-2020 season.
"Not our best tonight - I want to apologise to the fans," King said.
"We'll be better, I know that. I could make every excuse under the sun … a bad shooting night that I haven't seen in the two-plus years I've been here.
"It's by far our worst performance and we picked a bad night to do it."
In Thursday’s other game, the Perth Wildcats beat the Adelaide 36ers by a single point 98-97 after Elijah Pepper sunk a stunning three-pointer with seconds remaining on the clock to ruin Bryce Cotton’s 300th NBL game.
The Wildcats had at one point trailed by as much as 13 points, before rallying in front of a home crowd.
The scores were level at 93-all when 36ers import John Jenkins sunk a three-pointer with 8.6 seconds left on the clock to make it 96-93.
Perth centre Jo Lual-Acuil Jr then calmly slotted a pair of free-throws to make it 96-95. Down the other end, Adelaide's Jacob Rigoni was then fouled and went 1-from-2 at the line to make it 97-95 with 7.5 seconds left.
Pepper then carried the ball down the other end – pressured the whole way by Cotton – before firing a brilliant three-pointer off-balance with under two seconds left. He drew a foul in the process and earned himself a free-throw, but deliberately missed it to let the clock wind down and guarantee his side the win.
Pepper said the emotions post match were "unexplainable".
"I thought I'd screwed up … it's so exciting, I can't even begin to explain it."
The Sydney Kings remain on top of the ladder mid-way through the second round of matches.
