Keanu Pinder sparks Taipans upset as United fall apart

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NBL legend and commentator Derek Rucker has boldly declared the Cairns Taipans can "beat anyone, anywhere, anytime" after a fourth-quarter comeback helped Adam Forde's team snap a two-game losing streak and beat Melbourne United 107-95 at John Cain Arena.

Import point guard Jaylon Brown ($277,000) found his form with 14 points in the final period to lead the Taipans back from a nine-point deficit at three-quarter time for Cairns to record their second win of the season and send United to their second consecutive defeat.

While Brown exploded in the fourth to earn Player of the Game honours, big man Keanu Pinder ($300,000) was the best across all four quarters for the visitors with 27 points, going 10-from-14 from the field, as sharpshooter Reyne Smith ($156,300) (21 points) and marquee man Jack McVeigh ($349,800) (20 points) also had significant contributions to ease the pressure on their head coach.

Having four players score 20 points or above was enough for the Taipans to overcome 40 points from United import and former NBA guard Cole Anthony ($300,000), who fouled out in the dying minutes.

"If they play like this, they can beat anyone, anywhere, anytime," Rucker said on the NBL broadcast.

Brown, who has had a slow start to his first NBL season, said he needed to perform after a "shooting slump" in the first four games.

"I'm just trying to find my rhythm and the first half I was thinking I just need to keep shooting and stay confident in my shots and my teammates were picking me up, so they were making me feel better about myself," he said in the post-game interview.

"I just felt good in the second half, I made a couple of turnovers and then sat out and rested my mind and came back in and tried to make some plays."

Brown said his team just needed to stay together in the fourth to give themselves a chance of victory despite a nine-point deficit at the last break.

"We had a good practice yesterday and talked to each other about just staying together even when things are not going our way," he said.

"That's what we did."

NBL fans finally got to see the real Jaylon Brown after some well-deserved hype following his recruitment to Cairns and the 32-year-old said "you just feel it" when it's time to take over a game.

Brown almost added an early nominee for dunk of the season after being fouled on a drive and throwdown attempt by United forward Kyle Bowen ($110,600), which just missed.

The win puts the Taipans at 2-3 and still without Jaylin Galloway ($196,400) and Next Star Luke Paul ($115,000) while United find themselves in an early-season slump at 1-3 under new coach Jacob Chance.

The return of Shea Ili ($175,300) wasn't enough to spark Melbourne to victory with the star-studded roster failing to get going, even though they were still missing Chris Goulding ($188,900).

New recruit in former Taipan, Sam Waardenburg ($277,500), is yet to make his mark with the NBL heavyweights while Joe Ingles ($300,000) couldn't lead United to victory off the bench and Malith Machar ($69,000) could only manage 14 minutes playing time despite being the team's second-leading scorer with 14 points.

Cairns next host Brisbane on Thursday while Melbourne travel to Adelaide for a rematch against the 36ers in the Ignite Cup.

What you need to know

• The Cairns Taipans beat Melbourne United 107-95 at John Cain Arena in Round 3 of NBL27.
• Cairns won the first and last quarters, 18-14 and 35-14, and lost the middle two 29-32 and 25-35, turning an 81-72 deficit at three-quarter time into a 12-point win.
• Keanu Pinder ($300,000) led Cairns with 27 points on 10-from-14 in 27 minutes, while Cole Anthony ($300,000) scored 40 for United on 11-from-26, including 16-from-17 at the line, before fouling out.
• Cairns made 15 of 39 three-pointers and Melbourne made five of 24, a 45-15 split from beyond the arc on a night both teams went 26-from-30 at the line.
• United shot 4-from-19 in the fourth quarter, including 0-from-7 from three, with no assists and six turnovers.

Cairns Taipans

• Keanu Pinder ($300,000) top-scored with 27 points on 10-from-14, including 2-from-4 from three, in 27 minutes.
• Reyne Smith ($156,300) made five of 10 three-pointers for 21 points, with five rebounds and four assists.
• Jack McVeigh ($349,800) scored 20 on 7-from-18, going 5-from-5 at the line, with three steals in 37 minutes.
• Jaylon Brown ($277,000) scored 20 on 4-from-13, making 9-from-10 at the free-throw line, with four assists.
• Malique Lewis ($207,900) added nine points on 3-from-5, with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Jonah Bolden ($133,600) hit three of five three-pointers for nine points and led Cairns with 10 rebounds and two blocks.
• Kyrin Galloway ($176,000) had three blocks in 15 minutes off the bench and scored one point.
• Cairns shot 33-from-71 from the field, 15-from-39 from three and 26-from-30 at the line, with 36 rebounds, 20 assists, 12 steals and 11 turnovers.

Melbourne United

• Cole Anthony ($300,000) scored 40 on 11-from-26, including 16-from-17 at the line, before fouling out in 29 minutes.
• Josh Oduro ($277,000) had 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds on 5-from-9 in 30 minutes.
• Malith Machar ($69,000) scored 14 in 14 minutes on 5-from-7, including 3-from-4 from three.
• Luke Travers ($292,900) added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists, with four turnovers.
• Joe Ingles ($300,000) scored eight on 3-from-6 off the bench and missed all three of his three-point attempts.
• Sam Waardenburg ($277,500) went 0-from-7 from the field in 24 minutes, scoring his four points at the line, with six rebounds.
• Shea Ili ($175,300) had two points and four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
• Melbourne shot 32-from-75 from the field, 5-from-24 from three and 26-from-30 at the line, with 46 rebounds (13 offensive), 11 assists, four steals and 15 turnovers.