Melbourne United are first into the NBL championship series after skipper Chris Goulding nailed a free throw at full-time to win their deciding play-off match 113-112 against Perth Wildcats.

It looked like Perth’s captain Jesse Wagstaff had taken the match to extra time when he drained a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to tie up the clash.

But in the final play Goulding was fouled by Ben Henshall as he attempted to put up a shot, sending the captain to the line for two shots.

Perth unsuccessfully challenged the call and with the clock showing zero he was able to slot the winning point.

In a best-of-five grand final showdown, United will take on either minor premiers Illawarra or South East Melbourne Phoenix, with their third and final semi-final match on Wednesday night.

United are gunning for their first trophy since 2021, losing last year’s title series to the Tasmanian Jackjumpers.

While Goulding made the winning shot, import Ian Clark was the standout for the home side with a career-high haul.

An NBA championship winner with Golden State in 2017, Clark bagged a career-high 38 points, while Goulding finished with 30 and Matthew Dellavedova and Shea Illi held firm in defence.

With his team trailing by 11 after the first quarter, sharp-shooter Goulding showed his hand.

Goulding, who piled on 41 points to anchor their game-one victory, ended the half with six three-pointers, shooting at 100 per cent, and tallied nine for the match.

Melbourne briefly hit the lead before falling back to trail 62-58 at the main break, with Perth also keeping the scoreboard ticking over in a dazzling offensive display from both teams.

It looked like it was going to be the Bryce Cotton show early on with the five-time league MVP scoring 16 points in the first quarter, two points short of his entire scoring contribution in game two.

Perth’s small forward Kristian Doolittle was also a major contributor and tallied 37 points and 10 rebounds.

But Melbourne stiffened their defence and went on a nine-point scoring run in the second quarter to work their way into the match.

The home side had their noses in front heading into the final term, 87-84 with Jack White finally finding his range while keeping Cotton scoreless in the third quarter.

United got out to a five-point lead but the Wildcats kept coming, with Wagstaff’s heroics setting up the thrilling finale.

© AAP