Melbourne United were low on energy, low on focus and facing a second-straight loss midway through their clash with Cairns Taipans at Melbourne Arena on Sunday.
Enter Casper Ware.
The NBA import has long proven himself as Melbournes saviour, having driven them to big wins time and time again.
After four games in nine days and down a man with Alex Pledger ill, Melbourne couldnt muster their usual offence so they threw the ball to Ware.
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It proved as masterstroke as he led a last-term comeback win, scoring 13 of his 34 points when it most mattered to help Melbourne to a 87-80 victory in front of 7897 supporters.
Dont let the scoreline fool you – the result hung in the balance well into the last minute. Wares acrobatic lay-up put Melbourne in front, before his side pulled off an excellent defensive stand forcing the Taipans to turn the ball over from their in-bounds pass, with DJ Kennedy stealing the ball and then knocking down two free throws to extend the lead.
There was a touch of drama around that play as some replays appeared to show Melbournes Chris Goulding had his feet over the sideline as he defended Devon Halls in-bound pass, although the Taipans also didnt run their play as directed.
Cairns guard Dexter Kernich-Drew missed his next attempt at the basket with 22 seconds left, and Kennedy was on the spot again, grabbing the ball and avoiding the opposition defence to go coast-to-coast and finish the win with a dunk.
Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said he would take a win any way he could due to the teams tough schedule.
"At the moment, when we havent practiced and had reps, you feel like an NBA team in that you just have to let talent go," Vickerman said.
"Casper, when we were struggling, we put it in his hands – and as tired as he looked at times, he still had the quickness to get to the rim. He was outstanding."
Ware was clearly relishing his individual duel with Cairns import Melo Trimble who has been among the pace-setters for NBL most valuable player so far this season.
Trimble had most of his 19 points in the second half but Ware was a clear winner after the pair traded baskets several times in the last term.
Ware admitted he loves the opportunity to take over the game.
"I love it, Im not mad anytime I get the ball," Ware exclaimed.
"I was just happy my shot was going in today so I could make the plays my team needed."
Cairns coach Mike Kelly said he retained full faith in his side despite falling to 1-6 on the season, and took some positives from seeing Nathan Jawai (17 points, 10 rebounds) and young import Devon Hall perform well.
"This group is fighting like I expect them to fight and playing hard and trying to stay together but it was frustrating to lose," Kelly said.
The Taipans are also frustrated with how Jawai is being assessed by referees after the towering centre received two unsportsmanlike fouls in the game, the first one after a contentious collision with United's Chris Goulding.
When asked if Jawai was receiving much luck with his calls, Kelly said "no".
"He is playing really hard and we have had some technical fouls and unsportsmanlike fouls and I definitely think we can be better at handling our own business and taking referees out of the equation – especially in a close game," Kelly said.
"We have to take better care of what we can control.
"Some of the calls Nate has been called for, if he got the same treatment down the other end [on offence] then everybody in Cairns would be very happy."
The win takes Melbourne to 6-3 [win-loss] with three more games to go before the FIBA international break at the end of this month.
Melbourne United face New Zealand Breakers in Invercargill on Friday at 5.50pm AEDT.
Roy Ward is a Sports writer for The Age.