Melbourne United head coach Dean Vickerman has alluded to an intent to ensure his star players spend less time on court during the side’s run-in to the NBL24 Finals, but has rubbished claims that anyone will sit out of the side’s remaining games of the regular season.

United have all but locked up the top position on the ladder, courtesy of a thrilling start to the season in which they won 14 of their first 17 games.

The side’s form has since faltered, but given their vastly superior percentage over second-placed Perth, only three losses in three games would likely strip Melbourne of top position.

Vickerman has alluded to the Playoff-like nature of Melbourne’s final round as a key component of his side’s preparation.

“Illawarra are going to be gunning for something in that game, it’s going to mean a whole lot to them, and we talk about preparing for a Playoff series, going to Cairns and coming back with a day’s break before we play in Melbourne again is great preparation for what semi-finals is like,” Vickerman told SEN.

“We’ll certainly be playing our main guys really good minutes, maybe not to the 30-minute mark but maybe somewhere in the mid-20 to 30.

“Because there is a two-week break before we’re going to play our semi-final series, we really want to get good minutes into everybody over these next three games and hopefully we can do that and get some wins as well.”

Fans were likely offered an insight into Vickerman’s desired rotation during Round 18’s Throwdown against South East Melbourne.

United cantered to a 16-point win over their crosstown rivals, to make it a clean four wins from four games for the season against the Phoenix.

13 players hit the floor for United, and no player played more than the 23 minutes played by Luke Travers.

“It was great to have the opportunity to be up by 29 at three quarter time and allow some of our guys who haven’t seen a lot of minutes recently to get out there,” Vickerman said.

“They possibly were a little disappointed we didn’t put so many points on the board in the fourth quarter but those experiences are great in case things happen and we need some guys in the Finals, and they’ve got that time under their belt.”

Melbourne plays New Zealand on Sunday, February 11 at 2pm AEDT.

The game will be broadcast live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play and Sky Sport in NZ.