Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United NBL26 Round 16 Tips - Kings to Put Another Dent in United’s Armour

Ryan Tucker

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Fact Checked by Jeremy Darke

Last updated: Fri 09 Jan 2026 09:36

Ryan Tucker 09 Jan 2026

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Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United expert predictions for Sunday’s Round 16 NBL matchup
Tip-off is at 4:30 PM AEDT at Qudos Bank Arena
Sydney holds a 2-1 lead over Melbourne this season.
Post-FIBA, Sydney is 2nd in scoring & 3rd in defense, Melbourne falls to 6th & 7th.
Experts predict a Sydney victory at home, with high points expected.

Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United NBL26 Round 16 Tips

Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United NBL25 Round 16 Expert Tips

The Kings will lock up the season series against Melbourne on Sunday with another win at home.

Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United NBL25 Round 16 Expert Tips
Head to Head
Last 5 Match Results
Offensive & Defensive Rankings
Sydney Kings Form & Team News
Melbourne United Form & Team News
Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United Frequently Asked Questions

Sydney and Melbourne have played 3 games already this season with the Kings holding a 2-1 record in the matchups. The most recent game on 14th December at John Cain finished 92-86 to Sydney, a game dominated by Kendric Davis with 26 pts and Melbourne hitting just 1 of 28 shots from 3pt range.

Since Round 11 and the return from FIBA break, Sydney rank 2nd in scoring with 100.8 pts per game while United have tumbled down to 6th with 87.8 pts. It's a similar story even defensively with Sydney ranking 3rd and Melbourne down in 7th.

Not only has the defence fallen off for Melbourne, their shooting has lost its heat. In the same span after the break they rank 8th in 3pt percentage and 9th in EFG%. Chris Goulding has had 3 games in his last 8 where he has failed to sink even one shot from distance.

Xavier Cooks could still be out for Sydney but based on the previous matchups it will likely not affect Sydney too much, at least on the attacking end. Expect the role players to step up just like they did against New Zealand and plug the gaps while Davis controls tempo.

The Odds are still yet to be released, but when they do, take Sydney to win and cover the line at home. Their team total Over against a Melbourne defence lacking bite and Kendric Davis to go Over his points total.

Sydney won and covered in the last 2 meetings between these teams.
Melbourne are 1-4 in their last 5 games away from home.
The Kings have scored 92+ points in all 3 of their games against Melbourne this season. United are allowing 93.8 to opponents since the FIBA break.
Kendric Davis played just 24 minutes in the win over NZ and will be fresh for this one.
Davis averages 26 pts against Melbourne over his NBL career with the last two being 26 and 34 pts.

Head to Head

Last 5 Match Results

Date	Home Team	Score	Line	Total Points
14/12/2025	MEL	SYD 92-86	SYD +2.0	U 186.5
03/11/2025	MEL	SYD 95-92	SYD +6.5	O 182.5
08/10/2025	SYD	MEL 107-93	MEL +4.0	O 184.5
09/01/2025	SYD	MEL 90-88	MEL +2.5	U 193.0
01/12/2024	MEL	MEL 101-98	SYD +5.0	O 177.0

Offensive & Defensive Rankings

SYD Off	Rank	Stat	Rank	MEL Def
95.3	2	PPG	5	88.8
42.3	5	RPG	3	40.9
46.7%	1	FG%	6	44.9%
33.9%	3	3P%	10	37.6%
9.2	1	TOV	2	13.9

SYD Def	Rank	Stat	Rank	MEL Off
85.7	3	PPG	3	93.8
42.4	7	RPG	3	42.5
43.5%	2	FG%	6	44.6%
32.3%	5	3P%	7	32.0%
13.3	3	TOV	7	12.1

Sydney Kings Form & Team News

Sydney were involved in a massacre on Friday, belting the New Zealand Breakers 103-62 at Spark Arena. The win lifts their record to 14-9 and solidifies their spot in the top 4, a full game ahead of the Perth Wildcats in 5th spot on the ladder.

Xavier Cooks was ruled out late with Tyler Robertson getting his opportunity and repaying coach Brian Goorjian with 14 pts, 5 boards and 1 assist. Kouat Noi had 18 pts off the bench with Jaylin Galloway adding 16 pts, his highest contribution since December 3rd.

It is worth noting that it wasn’t all Sydney in the blowout, New Zealand made them look good, they scored just 4 pts in the 2nd quarter, shot 16% from distance, had 13 turnovers and were outrebounded 51-39.

Melbourne United Form & Team News

Melbourne United’s season is unravelling before our eyes. They took their second straight loss on Wednesday, this time against Cairns in what has been a disastrous period since the FIBA break going 2-7 across the span.

Thanks to their strong start to the season, they remain 3rd on the ladder with a 15-9 record but are under severe pressure to find form again to save a tumble down the standings.

The loss to Cairns was highlighted by poor scoring from the United bench, being outdone by their opponents 24-12. Their shooting form from 3pt range was also terrible, hitting just 8-33 attempts.

Melbourne have gone from 2nd in opposition points in rounds 1-10, allowing just 85.9 per game to 7th allowing 93.8 pts per game.