A game-high 27 points from Bryce Cotton and 18 points and 14 rebounds from Nick Kay allowed the Wildcats to hold off a fast-finishing United on Sunday afternoon at RAC Arena.

If a Casper Ware lay-up had fallen with six seconds remaining, the outcome might have been different.

Melbourne surrender their NBL ladder lead to Sydney, but the result will leave just one win separating the top five teams when round 14 ends on Monday night.

Perth will remain third, but the result was the difference between them fighting to extend their streak of playing finals to 33 years and challenging for home advantage in the finals.

It was the Wildcats' third win in 11 outings, but their 13th for the season - the same as the Kings.

Adelaide put themselves right in the mix with big wins this round against Perth and Sydney. Brisbane remain one spot ahead of them in fourth spot, on the back of a demolition of Cairns to extend their own winning streak to three.

At halftime, Perth led Melbourne by seven points, having earlier held a 16-point advantage.

Scoring had been their Achilles heel over the past two months, but Kay (11 points) and Cotton (13) were hitting the scoreboard early regularly against United.

Kay's block of a Chris Goulding lay-up seconds before halftime and a successful jump shot of his own at the other end, on the buzzer, were crucial.

Josh Boone's seven rebounds in the half ensured Melbourne stayed in touch. Mitch McCarron's 14 points in the third term not only brought United back into the game, but briefly gave them the lead.

Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson couldn't hide how he was feeling after the game.

"A little bit of relief," he said.

"It was a big game for us; coming back for a double-header after Adelaide; Melbourne coming here fresh.

"The boys really stepped up to the plate."

United coach Dean Vickerman said the two fouls to David Barlow in the opening two minutes of the game put his side immediately on the back foot.

"Barlow is really important for us and him picking up early fouls was an issue when you see his time on the floor and him down the stretch with some huge threes," he said.

"For them to have only seven fouls for the game is on us a little bit though. We have to make an assessment of how the game is being called and play the right way."

Australian Associated Press