Goulding fires as United improve to 7-0

Fresh off moving to third as an all-time three-point NBL shot maker, Chris Goulding knocked down another six of them as Melbourne United stayed undefeated in NBL26 with the 104-88 home win over the New Zealand Breakers.

Goulding, who missed the first month of the season with a quad injury, rose from the bench for his third straight game at John Cain Arena on Sunday and top-scored with 23 points.

The 36-year-old's tally came on 8/12 shooting, including 6/8 from long range, in less than 19 minutes on court.

He had 18 of those points and five three-pointers already in the first half to put Melbourne in control of the contest against a gritty Breakers outfit.

It was another impressive all-round performance from United as they improve to a 7-0 record on the season with five players scoring in double-figures and shooting 52 per cent from the field and going 16/34 from downtown.

Tanner Krebs continued his career-best form with 17 points on 5/8 three-point shooting with Tyson Walker adding 16 points, nine assists, four steals and four rebounds, Kyle Bowen 13 points and three steals, and Milton Doyle 12 points and four assists.

The last time United started with seven consecutive wins was in their NBL21 title-winning season.

Since losing to the Sydney Kings by two weeks ago by 22 points, the Breakers have continued to improve now with two wins and two competitive losses over the last four games.

While Sunday was a loss to United, the Breakers did plenty right too with import guard Izaiah Brockington putting together a second straight strong performance with 25 points on 10/16 shooting.

Superstar guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright also had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists with Sam Mennenga adding 16 points and four boards, and Next Star Karim Lopez eight points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Melbourne, who smashed New Zealand by 32 points at home in Round 1, never trailed on Sunday and flexed their collective muscle on a 17-2 run to take control the contest before half-time.

Brockington's 16 first-half points prevented it from being a complete blow-out, but he was outdone by Goulding at the other end.

Melbourne's key weapon had 18 first-half points on 5/6 from deep, to help his side to a commanding 56-38 lead.

New Zealand's 9-0 run, sparked by threes from Mennenga and Jackson-Cartwright, trimmed the deficit to nine points midway through the third period.

But Melbourne steadied and kept their opponents at arm's length in the closing stages.

Goulding has now gone 101 consecutive appearances with at least one successful three-pointer, after becoming the first player in NBL history to reach triple-figures two days earlier while also replacing John Rillie in third spot for all-time makes.

The Breakers are now straight back to Auckland to host the Brisbane Bullets on Thursday while Melbourne put their perfect record on the line on Friday away to the Cairns Taipans.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

MELBOURNE UNITED 104 (Goulding 23, Krebs 17, Walker 16)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 88 (Brockington 25, Jackson-Cartwright 20, Mennenga 16)

BOX SCORE