Every Player Rated: Game 1

Derek Rucker has rated all the key players from Saturday night's Game 1, and he hasn't held back.

It was Melbourne who took a 1-0 lead, with a 96-88 victory in enemy territory. 

Game 2 between Melbourne and Illawarra tips off on Wednesday night at 7.30pm AEDT.

Watch every game of the Hungry Jack's NBL25 Championship Series, live on ESPN.

The starters

Chris Goulding - Early foul trouble, but willed his way to a handy contribution - 8.2/10

Jack White - Decent, not great. Rebounding effort was influential - 8.3/10

Matthew Dellavedova - Terrific floor game. Made all the big plays - 9.2/10

Rob Loe - Was exploited early, then went to his alternate physical game-plan that benefited United - 7.5/10

Shea Ili - Elite defense from the DPOY. Strong offensive game - 9.1/10

Off the bench

Ian Clark - Timely buckets. Played like a champion sixth man - 8.8/10

Kyle Bowen - Spot minutes were average - 7/10

Marcus Lee - Star of the game! Perfect 7/7 with 15 rebounds - 9.6/10

Tanner Krebs - Massive impactful minutes off the bench. Three balls and rebounds - 8.6/10

The starters

Mason Peatling - Limited opportunities, but didn’t look impressive in his time on court - 5/10

Sam Froling - Was a consistent target on the offensive end. Solid productivity, but not efficient enough. Needs to be more impactful on the defensive end - 7/10

Trey Kell III - Poor game to start the series. Didn’t show any spark. Had trouble creating space to make plays - 3/10

Tyler Harvey - Effort was solid on both ends. Usage was diminished due to the United defensive pressure. Couldn’t score to his standard - 4.2/10

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk - Eye test indicates solid game, but he was a -20. Needs to be better defensively against the United guards - 6.5/10

Off the bench

Dan Grida - Final seconds desperation court-time - N/A

Darius Days - Lots of potential to impact the game and series, but pretty quiet in the second half when the game swung - 6.5/10

Hyunjung Lee - Looked ready to bust out of his shooting malaise, but only given limited minutes - 7/10

Lachlan Olbrich - Didn’t find any rhythm in the game. Used lightly - 5/10

Todd Blanchfield - Red hot first half, but cooled in the second half. Scoring contribution off the bench was solid - 7/10

Will Hickey - Energy and effort were solid with good stats, but failed to punish the Melbourne bigs on the offensive end in isolation matchups at key moments - 6.6/10