Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Cairns have absorbed a 40-point virtuoso display from former NBA star Cole Anthony to mow down Melbourne United 107-95 in one of the biggest upsets of the NBL season.
After falling behind by 12 points in the third quarter at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena on Saturday night, Cairns swamped United 35-14 in the fourth term.
Keanu Pinder (27 points), Reyne Smith (21), Jack McVeigh (20) and Jaylon Brown (20) all posted 20-plus for the Taipans, who climbed off the foot of the ladder with one of the franchise’s finest victories.
“We’re an emotional team,” Cairns coach Adam Forde said.
“I don’t want to curb that because we have to play different.
“We are a high-energy team.”
Anthony’s massive haul came in 29 spellbinding minutes before he fouled out in the final minute.
Melbourne’s next best was Malith Machar, who had a career-best 14 points in 14 minutes but, surprisingly, was sparingly used in the second half.
US import Anthony started slowly, missing seven of eight shots from the field in the opening term as Melbourne went 5-of-18 to trail 18-14 at quarter-time.
He lifted in the second stanza, but with Smith and Pinder catching fire from three-point range, Cairns extended their advantage to 42-34.
But they became plagued with fouls and United knocked down 13-of-15 free throws for the quarter to close the gap to 47-46 at halftime.
Pinder started the third period with an acrobatic three-point play, but Machar sparked a 15-2 Melbourne spree to suddenly put the home side in control.
The Taipans had no answer for Anthony’s sizzling bag of NBA tricks as the hosts sprinted clear 79-67.
Cairns weathered the Anthony storm and produced a 13-0 burst of their own either side of three-quarter time to pinch the lead, 83-81, on a Brown triple.
Unsighted for almost three periods, Brown and Pinder dazzled down the stretch while early-season championship favourite Melbourne wilted badly to nosedive to a 1-3 record.
“We did some really good things in the first half, (then) we lost the game in five minutes,” United coach Jacob Chance lamented.
“Momentum’s a nasty thing in sport.
“We were riding it and we didn’t do a good enough job of just steadying and being solid when we needed to.”
