The Adelaide 36ers have bounced back to the top of the NBL ladder with an 87-76 win over Melbourne United, whose disappointment was compounded by a knee injury to captain Chris Goulding.
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Goulding limped off favouring his left leg with just over four minutes remaining at John Cain Arena on Saturday night and headed straight for the locker room.
The 37-year-old returned to the court briefly late as United desperately needed buckets, but he was clearly hobbled and couldn't play defence.
Nick Rakocevic paired 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers (22-9), who edged back ahead of South East Melbourne Phoenix atop the ladder.
Zylan Cheatham added 19 and Bryce Cotton shook off an injury scare of his own to score 17.
"We've been trying to find that (early-season) rhythm for a little while," 36ers coach Mike Wells said.
"We were organised, guys were communicating, and it started on the defensive end."
Goulding (18 points), Milton Doyle (17) and Tyson Walker (16) were the best for fifth-placed Melbourne (18-12), whose offence clunked all night.
Cotton started brightly, posting 10 first-quarter points to put Adelaide up 29-23 at the opening break.
Goulding and Jesse Edwards combined for a 13-2 burst in the second term to briefly put United in front, before Rakocevic's three-pointer and tip-dunk put the 36ers back ahead at the main break, 41-39.
Cotton, held scoreless in the quarter, came off after jarring his lower back just before halftime before returning for the third term seemingly unimpeded.
The Sixers won the quarter 26-14, thanks chiefly to an inspired Rakocevic.
The import centre had two blocks for the term, buried his second triple, then finished it with a three-point play to stretch Adelaide's lead to 67-53 at three-quarter-time.
Rakocevic started the fourth period with a tip-in to boost the margin to 18 points, before Melbourne surged.
Still down by 13 with just over four minutes left, Doyle and Walker drained a string of treys in a 12-2 United run to slash the gap to 77-74 with 1:46 remaining.
It was as close as the home side got, the 36ers holding their nerve to score 10 of the last 12 points.
"We blew some layups, we stepped out of bounds, we did some dumb things," Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said.
"We just didn't finish very well at all tonight.
"We need everybody playing close to their best to beat the best teams in this league."
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