Jack White has posted a crucial double-double as Melbourne United continued their NBL march with an 87-83 win over the under-fire Sydney Kings.
In the first of four games in a tough 10-day stretch, Melbourne weathered a storm as the Kings threw everything at them at John Cain Arena on Thursday night.
White nailed two ice-cool three-pointers in the final 70 seconds to lift his side to victory, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Matthew Dellavedova (16 points, five rebounds) was also important, and Chris Goulding finished with 14 points despite landing just 2-of-10 three-point attempts.
"Delly did a great job of setting the platter for me at the end and I just tried to shoot the ball with confidence," White said.
"The guys do a good job of instilling that in me so I just tried to make the right play for the group.
"Fortunately it worked out ... I was just playing off instinct so it was a pretty good feeling."
MVP candidate White delivered his latest stand-out performance in front of Sydney coach Brian Goorjian, who left the former NBA small forward out of his Boomers team for the Paris Olympics.
"(This fixture) wasn't circled. That happens, it's part of basketball," White said.
"It's not the first time I've been cut from a team, it's not the first time I've dealt with adversity.
"Like with the Achilles (injury), with any sort of downfall I've always prided myself on how I've been able to respond to it."
Melbourne's third-straight win gave them a 7-3 record in second spot on the ladder behind Illawarra.
Pressure is mounting on Sydney (5-5), who are on a three-game losing skid and bracing for bad news after Jaylin Galloway succumbed to a suspected serious shoulder injury.
Jaylen Adams was also hampered by a back complaint that limited his court time against Melbourne.
The Kings' latest loss came despite outstanding performances from Cam Oliver (18 points, 16 rebounds) and Xavier Cooks (18 points).
Coach Goorjian was disappointed by a lop-sided foul count, declaring it a "huge factor" in a "pretty fudging physical" encounter.
"I've been in the game a long time and this is now two (away) games in a row -- in 40 years it doesn't happen very often -- they make more free-throws than we shoot," Goorjian said.
"Tonight was a pretty physical game, they're a physical team - we shoot six free-throws, seven fouls for the whole game.
"We can't win, can't beat a team like that."
Goorjian said the trend is becoming concerning.
"We're addressing it and the doubt falls on us," he said.
"I've got to do a better job of coaching, I've got to talk about the hands and feet, but it was a big discussion point when I came into the locker room.
"There were physical screens, strong picks, there was a lot of holding and grabbing out there and I thought it was fairly equal as far as the contact was in the game.
"(But) it was very, very lop-sided as far as the deal goes. This game is a fine line, everyone's looking for an edge and that foul line's a big one.
"I'm emotional tonight because I thought we addressed what we needed to address and we had the chance to do it, and that stares you in the face."
Sydney are back in action in a home clash with Tasmania on Sunday, while Melbourne host New Zealand on Monday night.