ALTHOUGH Melbourne United‘s 10-game winning streak came to an end in the National Basketball League (NBL) on Monday night at the hands of the Sydney Kings, Next Star Dash Daniels was still able to put forth a strong showing.

Daniels has been playing significant minutes for United in his draft year, with Dean Vickerman showing plenty of faith in his youngster ahead of the 2026 NBA intake. The young gun has shown plenty of improvement in his offensive production, and is moving closer to being a first round selection come June.

Daniels and United faced off against the Kings at John Cain Arena on Melbourne Cup eve on Monday night, and the home side was looking to remain undefeated after starting the season as the form team of the NBL with 10 wins from 10 games.

In a thrilling affair that went down to the wire, the Kings were able to get the job done in enemy territory, as the championship favourites sustained their first loss of the season, now facing a quick turnaround before tonight’s match against the Illawarra Hawks.

Although United ended up falling by three points on Monday night, the performance of Daniels was still a positive, with the Next Star having an eye-catching cameo in the second half to still leave his fingerprints over the contest.

Melbourne United (92) def. by Sydney Kings (95)

Dash Daniels – nine points, one block

Playing 22 minutes in a blockbuster clash, Daniels was able to produce some big moments against the Kings, keeping Melbourne in the contest with some impressive jumpshots fresh off a recent encounter defending reigning MVP Bryce Cotton.

The young gun was brought into the match midway through the first quarter, and got going with a nice floater driving into the lane, which is still his one-wood on the scoring front. He then rounded out the quarter by splitting a pair of free throws, although United ended up trailing by five points at the first change.

It was a quiet second-quarter performance from Daniels, who was unable to hit the scoreboard following quarter time despite playing some considerable minutes. However, his defensive pressure was still evident, cutting off passing lanes and staying in front of the ball handler against some quality opponents at John Cain Arena.

After starting the third quarter on the bench, the Next Star was brought back into the fold five minutes into the term, and immediately looked active on the offensive end with his positioning, even if it did not result in shots for himself. However, Daniels had his moment when he knocked down a standing three-pointer to bring the margin back to seven points on the eve of three-quarter time, after the Kings looked to run away with it.

Once again he spent the first five minutes of the final frame on the bench, and was brought back into the fray with the game on the line. For the second quarter in a row, Daniels was able to splash home a long-range bomb in a massive shot within the context of the match. His second three-pointer brough Melbourne within two points, and allowed United to briefly take the lead.

He also showed his defensive nous by swatting an attempted putback layup from Kings big man Tim Soares, outperforming his size disadvantage to have a huge play in the final minutes of the match before heading to the bench.

Daniels finished the match with a crucial nine points on 3/6 shooting from the field and 2/4 shooting from behind the arc, with both of his three-point bombs coming in the second half and helped United drag themselves back into the fight.