Melbourne United's 10th consecutive NBL victory may have come at a cost with star centre Jock Landale picking up a knee injury in their 90-76 victory over the New Zealand Breakers.
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The Boomers forward limped from the court in a dramatic start to Thursday's clash at John Cain Arena but United still possessed too much firepower as they set a new franchise record for successive wins in a single season.
Scotty Hopson recovered from an injury scare late in the second quarter to lead all scorers with 25 points while Jo Lual-Acuil played 31 minutes in Landale's absence and produced a career-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Landale appeared to hurt his right knee at the opening jump ball and immediately made his way to the locker room, United taking no chances with their marquee big man as they sat him for the rest of the match.
"Jock felt a little something on his last possession of warm-up then he took the jump ball and it didn't feel good," coach Dean Vickerman said, with Landale set to undergo scans to determine the severity of the injury.
"The medical staff haven't given me any indication about length of time, just to get some scans tomorrow and see how it goes."
With Landale sidelined, Chris Goulding took charge of the offence with a barrage of three-pointers, including the 800th of his illustrious career, as he poured in 19 first-half points to help Melbourne establish a 46-36 lead at the main break.
Hopson's poor run of luck against his former club looked set to continue when he landed awkwardly following a dunk late in the second quarter, leaving the US import in danger of suffering an injury against the Breakers for the third time this season.
But after New Zealand cut Melbourne's lead to 48-42 early in the third period, Hopson returned to the action and scored United's final 10 points of the quarter as they surged ahead by 20.
The Breakers managed to reduce the margin to 68-52 after three quarters but United opened the final term with seven unanswered points to put the result beyond doubt.
New Zealand were aiming to celebrate veteran Tom Abercrombie's 355th club appearance, surpassing Mika Vukona's record for most games played at the Breakers, but it turned into a night to forget for the visitors.
"We've played some really good basketball and then we've had these flat patches - we didn't come out and start well tonight and never really found our feet," said Abercrombie, after Melbourne beat New Zealand for the ninth time in their last 10 meetings.
Australian Associated Press
