Knight-night: No mo' FOMO for clutch NBA veteran

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Three weeks ago, Brandon Knight ($277,000) had FOMO over Elijah Pepper ($202,700)’s game-winner on Bryce Cotton ($473,900)’s Adelaide 36ers – not anymore.

The 35-year-old NBA veteran was right in the thick of it against Melbourne United in Round 6 of NBL27 on Friday, October 23, 2026, in Perth, splashing the game-winner with eight seconds left after taking a help-the-helper charge on United’s NBA superstar Cole Anthony ($300,000) 10 seconds earlier.

His go-ahead middie – a crossover and gather at the top of the key – put the Wildcats in front 103-102. United wing Luke Travers ($292,900) rimmed out a three at the buzzer to win it.

“With the charge, when I fell, I’m like, ‘I don’t even know where my feet were’,” Knight said.

“I just saw Cole. I know how aggressive he is, and in those situations he’s always looking to be aggressive and get in the paint. I anticipated him beating the first defender.

“Coach has been harping all week about being over the lane line.

“He’s been saying time and time again that it’ll make the game tough. That rang true at the end. I stepped over and tried to stay in front and make a smart play.

“The shot, honestly, like Coach said, just staying prepared. The play I was looking for initially, they kind of blew it up. They did a good job of reading what we were doing.

“At that point, I tried to be aggressive, get downhill and make a basketball play, and ended up hitting the shot.

“At the end of the day, I’m thankful we got a win. Like Coach said, we’ve got a lot we’ve got to work on. We’re trending in the right direction.

“Of course, it’s good to win those games because it builds character. It brings us closer together as teammates, especially me just getting here, to be able to have that with the guys, be in the fight and see what we can accomplish against a good team.

“All those things are super important over the long haul and how we build this.”

Knight finished with a NBL career-high 20 points (8-for-15), three rebounds, and two assists in 29:38 minutes, while All-NBL First Teamer Kristian Doolittle ($317,500) didn’t miss a beat after returning from injury, dropping a team-high 23 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists in 38:32.

“It’s not even about the game-winner or the charge,” Knight continued.

“When you get a game where everybody contributes, you see bench guys playing their role, you see D doing what he does, Dylan doing what he does – everybody contributing – and you’re able to be part of that.

“It’s less about the game-winner and more about the collective fight.

“When we do that once, twice, three times, when we do it in practice daily and continue to build on it, then we have success.

“Game-winners don’t hurt it, but it’s more about the collective fight and being part of it.”

Travers led all scorers with 26 points; United forward Josh Oduro ($277,000) had 22 on 8-for-11, and Anthony had 19 on 5-for-15. Melbourne is 3-5 and the Wildcats 5-2.

United led by six with 1:40 to go and by three with 35.5 seconds left, but couldn’t close out the home team in front of a packed RAC Arena. Pepper hit two clutch free throws before Knight won the game.

“A couple of possessions there at the end could have been a little bit better,” United head coach Jacob Chance said.

“But I just told the guys: ‘Keep believing in what we’re doing’. It’s an advantage for us to play in these close games and keep learning from them. Obviously, we’d like to be on the other side, but that’s how basketball goes.

“I just felt like, from the last game, we raised the floor a little bit. We were quite poor in that second quarter against Illawarra, so we didn’t quite have those lulls tonight.

“That’s where you see our guys – the kid next to me and a bunch of our guys – their talent can show when our floor is solid.

That’s probably why, for most of the game, we were in a pretty good position. But it’s not for 40 minutes right now. In a place like here in Perth, you’ve got to be nails down the stretch, and we just didn’t make enough plays.

Watch

NBL27

Perth Wildcats vs Melbourne United | Round 6 Highlights

Watch the highlights as the Perth Wildcats take on Melbourne United in Round 6 of NBL27 on October 23, 2026.

What you need to know

• Perth Wildcats beat Melbourne United 103-102 at RAC Arena in NBL27 Round 6, with Brandon Knight ($277,000) hitting the winner with eight seconds left.
• Melbourne won the first two quarters, 26-25 and 22-21, the third finished 31-31, and Perth won the fourth 26-23 after trailing at every break.
• Kristian Doolittle ($317,500) had 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on 8-from-15, and Luke Travers ($292,900) top-scored for Melbourne with a game-high 26 on 11-from-19.
• Perth trailed 100-94 inside the last two minutes and closed on a 9-2 run: Doolittle scored five straight, Elijah Pepper ($202,700) made two free throws to cut it to 102-101, and Knight hit the go-ahead jumper.
• Perth made one more two-pointer than Melbourne, 30 to 29, and one more three, 10 to nine, while Melbourne made four more free throws, 17-from-22 to 13-from-15: the one-point margin exactly.

Perth Wildcats

• Kristian Doolittle ($317,500) top-scored with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on 8-from-15, including 3-from-6 from three, in 38 minutes on his return from a foot injury.
• Elijah Pepper ($202,700) scored 22 on 7-from-20, including 2-from-10 from three, and was 6-from-6 at the line.
• Brandon Knight ($277,000) added 20 points on 8-from-15, including 2-from-8 from three, and hit the winning pull-up jumper with eight seconds left.
• Dylan Windler ($271,100) had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 5-from-6.
• Anthony Dell'Orso ($100,000) scored nine off the bench on 4-from-6 in 19 minutes and was a team-best plus-10.
• Jesse Wagstaff ($84,700) scored seven off the bench on 3-from-5 in 12 minutes before fouling out.
• Jaron Rillie ($177,100) had four points, three assists and two steals in 16 minutes off the bench.
• Perth shot 40-from-81 from the field, 10-from-31 from three and 13-from-15 at the line, with 41 rebounds, 23 assists and 12 turnovers.

Melbourne United

• Luke Travers ($292,900) top-scored with a game-high 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 11-from-19, and missed a three at the buzzer.
• Josh Oduro ($277,000) had 22 points on 8-from-11 and 6-from-8 at the line, with two blocks.
• Cole Anthony ($300,000) scored 19 on 5-from-15, including 1-from-7 from three, and was 8-from-8 at the line.
• Joe Ingles ($300,000) had 11 points, eight assists and three steals off the bench on 4-from-8, including 3-from-6 from three, with five turnovers.
• Sam Waardenburg ($277,500) had nine points, six rebounds and five assists on 4-from-6 and was a team-best plus-8.
• Shea Ili ($175,300) scored seven off the bench on 3-from-5 with two steals.
• Fabijan Krslovic ($172,300) had three points and three rebounds, all offensive, in 13 minutes off the bench.
• Melbourne shot 38-from-75 from the field, 9-from-31 from three and 17-from-22 at the line, with 40 rebounds, 23 assists and 14 turnovers.