Basketball On The Internet.

WHAT a great finish. There have already been some beauties but from 70-70, NBL leaders Melbourne and Perth last night turned in some classic drama.

Inside the last half minute, Chris Goulding tumbles to the floor as Nate Jawai tries to secure an offensive board for Perth after one too many hero plays from Jermaine Beal - foul Jawai.

Goulding nails both freebies, 72-70, time-out Perth.

The Wildcats find Shawn Redhage who shows why he has been a star for so long by sticking a triple, Perth 73-72, timeout Melbourne.

Stephen Holt plays the pick and roll to perfection, drives to the hoop, changes hands to make the shot, Melbourne 74-73.

No timeouts left, Perth races the ball forward for Beal to drive to the hoop where there's a bit of Majok magic waiting, the big fella swatting his shot, Todd Blanchfield securing the board.

Fouled, Blanchfield knocks down one freebie for 75-73 and the Wildcats are left to lament whether Majok's block was a foul.

The block looked clean to me, maybe his follow-through clipped Beal. But at full strength, these two teams should stage another three great contests this regular season, before their playoff showdowns.

ONE of the things I like most about interviewing Cairns coach Aaron Fearne is he tells it like he sees it, without a lot of sugar-coating.

"We don't have enough guys playing well enough," he said of the Taipans' current 2-4 record, lamenting his team's 22 per cent (in)accuracy from behind the 3-point arc.

"We've got guys who can shoot but we're not knocking them down.

"If we were making a better percentage of 3-pointers, we wouldn't be as frustrated as we are. And we have to find ways to defend better."

Cairns is squaring up to its fourth road game in succession, having started the quartet in Adelaide where Jerome Randle made his exceptional debut.

"Randle is an NBA talent, he was a legit college player and he's a high level player doing what he's paid to do," Fearne said.

"And he is fast - he can just get on the rim - and he suits Joey's style big time.

"We'll try to slow him down but we have to slow the whole team down."

Fearne also was impressed with Corey Webster in his second game back in the NBL after his pre-season NBA stint with New Orleans Pelicans.

Webster had a 22-point game against Sydney, then torched his Taipans with a career-best 35.

"The pace of the (NBL) game compared to what he's been playing would just be slow to him," Fearne said.

"His first five shots were pretty tough shots."

CLASSY COREY: After tasting NBA, NBL defenders now seem like road cones to Corey Webster.

Tonight: Townsville will have to make changes to get off to a faster start and Sydney will be excited by Al Harrington's presence in the lineup. It makes it easier to lean to the Kings to win this time around, provided they defend the perimeter well if it heads to a tight finish.

Last night: UNITED 75 (Goulding 19, Holt 15, Majok, Kickert 12; Majok 11 rebs; 3 with 2 assts) d WILDCATS 73 (Knight 17, Jawai 13, Redhage 12; Knight 12 rebs; Redhage, Beal 4 assts) at Hisense Arena.

Online
No Wilbekin after all: http://bit.ly/1M4pJQM
36ers-Cairns preview: http://bit.ly/1jW6XAT
Jerome Randle's NBA misfire:? http://bit.ly/1MlIafB