Basketball On The Internet.

WITH import Zylan Cheatham doing an impersonation of Ben Simmons shooting the ball and John Jenkins continuing his struggles, the 36ers were no match for a Melbourne ignited by Luke Travers en route to an NBL Ignite Cup win that only became interesting via a last quarter fightback.

The 36ers outscored United 32-20 in the final period to draw within three points after trailing by as many as 20.

But United held firm and found the right avenues in the endgame to stall a comeback that never seemed likely after a superb Melbourne start.

On his way to a 16-point, 7-rebound, 4-assist haul, Travers, alongside Sam Waardenburg, Malith Machar and Josh Oduro opened in aggressive offensive fashion, shoot-first playmaker Cole Anthony instead creative and sharing the ball.

His ball distribution and United's general ball movement belied its past few games as it raced 31-21 clear at the first break before extending that to 56-38 by halftime.

Paying the fine for being found guilty of striking NZ's Mojave King in Adelaide's previous match, Nick Rakocevic started strongly before a couple of typically silly fouls sent him packing.

Cheatham, who had zero points and one rebound at three quarter-time, looked as if he was simply refusing to shoot the ball, even the large crowd at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre groaning their displeasure at how often he literally passed up open looks.

Trailing by 17 at the last break, Bryce Cotton (33 points, 6 threes, 9 assists) kept up his formidable efforts with ample support from a rejuvenated Rakocevic.

The big Serbian pivot created a new career-high with 33 points to accompany his game-high 14 rebounds. John Jenkins, Missing In Action yet again, had four points at the last break - that's four points and one rebound between him and Cheatham, two of Adelaide's imports - stuck a 3-pointer.

He hit a second, sandwiched between a pair of Cotton triples, the comeback ignited with the deficit back to 81-88.

With 2:54 left, Cheatham suddenly chose to drive and throw down a dunk, which he followed with another as the 36ers had the score teetering at 85-88, the crowd now active too, the 36ers' defensive work its best of the night.

This was exactly when a suddenly tentative United required a leader and Anthony was just that, hitting a key three and several free throws in the endgame, Cheatham scoring two further baskets.

He scored eight points inside the game's final three minutes leaving the question was he distracted or just unable to function in a disciplined system?

For Melbourne, this is the game style it is looking for and an identity which, if properly nurtured, can keep the club busy at the season's business end.

Round 4 Results, Ignite Cup

Melbourne United 96 (Anthony 24, Oduro, Travers 16, Ingles 11; Travers 7 rebs; Ili 6 assts) d Adelaide 36ers 91 (Rakocevic, Cotton 33, Jenkins 10; Rakocevic 14 rebs; Cotton 9 assts) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Qtr-By-Qtr: 31-21, 25-17, 20-21, 20-32. Cup Pts: Melbourne 5, Adelaide 2