NBL Championship Finals: Hawks upset United’s party and book game five decider
The NBL Championship Finals series is going to game five, after the injury shot Illawarra Hawks toppled Melbourne United to keep the series alive.
Bruised, battered and the road, Illawarra Hawks had no right to walk away victorious, but there is a special never-say-die attitude about the minor premiers.
The Hawks refused to wave the white flag, producing one of the gutsiest defensive performances in memory to take down Melbourne United 80-71 in a game four dogfight at John Cain Arena on Wednesday night.
If it was not hard enough already for Justin Tatum’s men after superstar Trey Kell III failed a fitness test on his knee pre-game, the Hawks to win in enemy territory without centre Sam Froling for the best part of three quarters.
Froling limped to the bench early in the second quarter with what appears to be an achilles injury.
The 25-year-old big man will obviously be in doubt for game five in Wollongong on Sunday.
The unpredictable nature of the series, which saw the first three games go to the road team, meant you could not totally rule out Illawarra, but without two of their starters, no one gave them a hope.
The big question for the Hawks in the lead up was who would take on the ball handling responsibilities.
Will Hickey stepped up big time.
The 25-year-old had a fire in his eyes.
The speedy guard set the tone for the Hawks from the outset, leading the way with a game-high 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
With one problem solved, another bobbed up for the Hawks.
Froling was outstanding in the first period with five points and four rebounds, but his premature exit forced the Hawks into small ball.
Youngster Lachie Olbrich had the unenviable task of battling in the paint with imposing United bigs Rob Loe and Marcus Lee.
His rose to the challenge, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Olbrich’s mobility troubled the United bigs at times.
The 21-year-old seems to have what it takes to step up in game five should Froling be unavailable.
United veteran Matthew Dellavedova produced a sterling performance.
Dellavedova just did not have enough helpers on a night where he posted 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Delly has been called on to do more for United in the absence of Shea Ili, who is out with concussion, and he has been a star.
United’s scorers went missing in game four.
Barring a few fleeting moments, captain Chris Goulding was out of sorts with 17 points on 5/16 shooting, while Ian Clark, who had averaged over 30 points per game in the finals at John Cain Arena, struggled to 16 points on 6/17 shooting.
As a team, United shot horribly from three-point land, going 7/26 (26%) and will need to clean that up if they want to secure their first title since 2021 in the decider in Wollongong on Sunday.
Illawarra bravely opened the game on a 10-2 advantage and looked up for the battle.
It was perhaps a nervous United with the finish line in sight as the hosts only managed two points in the first six minutes.
Dellavedova was oozing with confidence though, coming out after quarter time and launching a huge three to level the scores/
With United in the midst of a 12-0 run, Froling drove to the basket and slowly got back to his feet.
After taking a few steps, the 25-year-old realised something was not right with his lower leg and retreated to the bench.
United led by four at the half, but everything was clunky.
The Hawks chipped away in the second half, going up seven with 3.30 on the clock and a huge upset was on the cards.
Hawks forward Darius Days launched a huge three to take the wind out of United’s sails before Harvey delivered the knockout blow.
NBL SCOREBOARD
Melbourne United 71 (Dellavedova 17 Goulding 17) lt Illawarra Hawks 80 (Hickey 22 Olbrich 13).
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne.
Best-of-five series is tied 2-2.
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