Melbourne United's NBL championship credentials have received a further boost with star import Casey Prather making a successful comeback from injury as United's winning run continued on Friday night.
A two-time championship winner with the Perth Wildcats, Prather's first season in Melbourne appeared over after dislocating his elbow in December but the 198cm forward made an impressive return to action as United defeated his former club 97-85 at Hisense Arena.
Prather started the game on the bench but went on to score 14 points to help knock Perth out of top-two calculations and now appears set to play a major role in the minor premiers' upcoming finals campaign.
"I didn't feel any pain today," Prather said following his comeback match.
"I had a couple of times where I got in the mix with the post players and started bumping and grinding a bit, even had a time where I fell on the floor but I got up and felt pretty normal."
"I loved the energy that he brought defensively tonight," Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said after his big off-season signing returned to the line-up after a two-month absence.
"It was nice to see him slot back in...he only played 17 minutes tonight and we expect that to certainly rise."
Chris Goulding and Casper Ware each scored 19 points with United connecting on 14 three-pointers to keep them out of Perth's reach for most of the night despite a 24-point haul from Wildcats centre Angus Brandt.
With Prather's injury replacement Carrick Felix moved off the active roster, Craig Moller started the match at small forward and the NBL Rookie of the Year nominee produced 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Vickerman revealed that Prather's message to his teammates prior to the match was that he would do whatever he could to help them win - even if it meant keeping Moller in the starting five.
"It's a sacrifice for him (to come off the bench) but it's just such a team thing and exactly what this team needed," he said.
"I felt like we had a great chemistry," Prather said about being part of a second unit that outscored Perth 29-19.
Melbourne also welcomed back veteran centre David Andersen from injury against the Wildcats and with big man Majok Majok set to come back into the side for Sunday's clash with the Illawarra Hawks, player rotation will be a key factor for Vickerman in United's final regular season game.
Share
