Luke Travers quietened his old home fans on his return to RAC Arena with Melbourne United's trademark defence leading the way in their 88-81 victory against the Perth Wildcats.
Melbourne didn't have things all their own way including foul trouble to big men Ariel Hukporti and Rob Loe, but their defence was on point making life hell for 'Cats superstar Bryce Cotton.
The one-two defensive punch of Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova helped limit Cotton to 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting. United did well to hold a potent Perth team to 81 points (29 in the fourth) and 34 per cent shooting to claim the seven-point win.
The victory improves Melbourne to 3-1 with both Chris Goulding and Ian Clark scoring 18 with four three-pointers apiece.
Hukporti only played 19 minutes because of foul trouble but was a powerful presence with 11 points and seven rebounds. Dellavedova added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Travers 11 points on his return home.
Travers enjoyed his homecoming after 100 games with the Wildcats.
"If I didn't hear any boos then I felt like I didn't do my job properly playing here the last four years," Travers said.
"There was also a little bit of support so it was cool and I was actually more calm than I thought I was going to be. I just tried to take it all in and enjoy the experience, and make the most of it."
Keanu Pinder led the charge for the Wildcats with 25 points with Jordan Usher adding 20 despite shooting 6-of-18. Alex Sarr added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks with import Kristian Doolittle going down with a lower leg injury in the opening minutes.
Coach John Rillie lamented the lack of offensive cohesion for the 'Cats because he liked their defence and rebounding.
"Where it went wrong was that our offence wasn't as efficient as we would like," Rillie said.
"We did a great job defensively and rebounding, and with our line-up a little disrupted now with Doolittle going down, we've got to find our rhythm offensively as our defence and rebounding continues to grow."
A lot of the attention was on the return to Perth of Travers for the first time since joining Melbourne. He threw down a statement dunk in the grill of Pinder to silence his old home fans.
Melbourne's defence continued to keep them on top in the first half and they still led 39-35 at the main break even with two late threes for Perth after missing the first 11 attempts.
United did continue to have all the answers with a third three to Clark to start the fourth quarter putting them up 11, but then the 'Cats made their charge.
Pinder, Usher and Cotton inspired a 9-1 run to tie scores up but another triple late from Clark ensured United held out for the seven-point win to make it eight wins on their last 10 visits out west.
