A furious Justin Tatum has taken aim at "incompetent" NBL referees after he was hit with a technical foul during a controversial finish to Illawarra's 92-87 home loss to Melbourne United.

Chris Goulding produced a vintage shooting display, draining five threes on his way to a game-high 25 points at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night.

But it was the Melbourne captain's involvement in the chaotic scenes during the final 30 seconds that was one of the major talking points out of a tense contest between two title contenders.

United led 87-84 with 22.1 seconds left on the clock when Hawks guard Will Hickey was called for a soft foul on Goulding, who tumbled theatrically after relatively minor contact.

It left the Hawks incensed and coach Tatum was unable to challenge the decision, with all of his timeouts already used.

The play was then wiped off because the game clock had not started running when the ball was in-bounded, and Tatum was hit with a technical foul as tension boiled over on the sidelines.

United's Jack White was fouled twice in the final seconds - either side of Todd Blanchfield's missed attempt at a game-tying three - and his four free-throws iced the game.

"I don't know if it was a first-time or rookie referee that wants to make a call like that, but we're just happy that Chris Goulding didn't hurt himself flopping in front of us," Tatum said post-game.

"I'm glad that he's injury-free, but at the end of the day the officials at that time unfortunately just made a bad decision, a bad call."

Tatum, the father of NBA superstar Jayson Tatum, was adamant he didn't "disrespect" the officials before he was handed his technical foul.

But he admitted he had told a referee the decision against Hickey was "a bleeping terrible call".

Tatum also fumed about the free-throw count, which finished 26-18 in Melbourne's favour.

"The respect factor with the officials and our group in general was just a poor display, a poor display, but they didn't cost us that game," Tatum said.

"Us as a team didn't play to the 40 minutes, I felt. But it shouldn't be left in the refs' hands, it should obviously be left to the players."

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman struggled to make sense of the decisive final minute of the game, in particular the decision to wipe off the play and deny United two free throws for Hickey's foul on Goulding.

"There was a lot going on, right? I'm pretty sure I had a timeout left and I'm not sure where that one disappeared to as well," Vickerman said.

"I needed it down the stretch. There were a couple of errors, I thought, coming from the bench tonight."

White (12 points, 19 rebounds), Flynn Cameron (18 points) and Ian Clark (14) were also outstanding for Melbourne (5-3), whose win was a strong response after last round's shock loss to rivals South East Melbourne.

It came despite Kyle Bowen exiting the game during the third term after a hit to the face, and with back-court duo Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova also sidelined.

Hickey (17 points) was brilliant at both ends of the floor for Illawarra just days after signing a fresh contract extension, while Sam Froling (16 points), Tyler Harvey and Blanchfield (both 12) were also in double figures.

The Hawks lost star import Trey Kell to a back injury before half-time and trailed by 11 points during the third period before fighting back, with the lead changing hands half a dozen times in the fourth period.

Illawarra (5-2) remain top of the ladder ahead of Saturday's road game against South East Melbourne, while Melbourne host Cairns on Sunday.