"I can't do that": What inspired CG43's incredible run

Chris Goulding stormed off the court needing to clear his head after picking up a third foul, in what proved a defining moment for the 36-year-old star. 

The Melbourne United gun played just 13 second half minutes, but in that time went at incredible 9/11 from three for 32 points. Quite simply, he was the difference between United and Perth in what was otherwise a close-fought thriller.

"I just wanted to get in a better mental space," Goulding revealed of the moment that turned his night. 

"I was disappointed I put myself and my team in that position to get three fouls and to be limited in how much Dean could play me.

"I just needed 10, 15 seconds to gather my mind and then come back out and be a positive influence for the guys, and not be a deterrent. I thought it probably affected us a little bit in the second quarter and I can't do that."

Last time Goulding played the Wildcats at John Cain Arena was back on November 9, when he produced a 25-point third quarter on his way to 46 for the game.

The signs were there of him repeating something similar when he hit a three to open Game 1 of the Playoffs on Thursday night. But things were looking decidedly different by the time he ran through a Jesse Wagstaff screen for a third foul with 3:13 to go in the first half.

Goulding's frustrations were obvious and he needed to collect himself briefly going to the locker room. He sat out the first 3:47 of the second half too.

That's when he produced one of the most remarkable performances of his 470-game career with four three-pointers and three free throws to put up 15 points in the third.

He picked up a fourth foul two minutes into the final period and had to sit for another three minutes. When he returned to what again was only a three-point game, he played match-winner for United.

Goulding delivered another five three-pointers in that next five minutes for 17 points, finishing with an incredible 41-point haul.

His 24:25 court time was the lowest minutes tally of any NBL player to hit 10 threes in history.

He also became the first player with 10 triples in a 40-minute Playoff game and the first to achieve the feat twice in one season, having also made 10 last month against New Zealand.

The performance propelled Melbourne to the 105-93 win to take the one-nil series lead.

"I probably took too long to reset myself, but half-time came and I had fouls and I was really confident in the ability of other guys to step up," Goulding said.

"We have so much confidence in the guys that come in and play off the bench and with the guys that don't get a lot of minutes so that calms me for sure.

"Seeing IC (Ian Clark, 16 first half points) go out there and get buckets is one of the best things for my head space, and I love watching him play the way he did tonight. I just needed to reset and get myself in a better head space a little bit quicker."

Goulding gave his teammates credit for the work they did to get him that little bit of space he needs to find his range. 

"It's a balancing act with guys working to free me up and then the work that I do to try and get a little bit of space, but once you see it go in a couple of times you want to hunt good shots," he added.

"You then want to read off what the defence does off that and we tried to set up a couple of things to potentially get the screener open, but they did a good job at shutting that down.

"We went deep into the playbook with some different stuff, but it's just the desire to hunt and keep getting looks."