NBL25 play-offs, SEM Phoenix, Illawarra Hawks: Hurt leads SEM charge to game three
Clear your mid week schedules, we’ve got two epic game three semi finals locked in after Matt Hurt sensationally led the Phoenix charge to secure win over title favourites.
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It’s going the distance.
Import Matt Hurt showed his star qualities as a desperate South East Melbourne Phoenix levelled up its semi final series with Illawarra Hawks at a game apiece after a tense game at John Cain Arena in Melbourne on Sunday.
Hurt was limited to just 10 points on six shots in game one but was the focal point as Phoenix claimed a hard-fought do-or-die game two 101-94.
The sweet shooting 24-year-old produced a stellar performance with 30 points on 11-19 shooting, including four three pointers, to go with two blocks.
“When he gets it going, he’s one of the best players in the league for a reason,” Phoenix coach Josh King said.
“I think right away he was determined and when he plays well we’re tough to beat.”
It was far from a one-man show for Phoenix.
King lauded the control and consistency his team displayed for the full 40 minutes.
Whereas there were huge momentum swings both ways in game one, Phoenix never let any Hawks spot fires get out of control this time around.
While the Hawks starters had a game to forget and relied heavily on their bench scoring (55 to 26) to stay in the contest, Phoenix had contributions right up and down the lineup.
“I just meant to say that [give praise to the Phoenix starting five] but I forgot because my mind is racing,” King said.
“I thought for the most part we kind of controlled the game.
“They’re a good team, they’ve got a lot of good players and they can put you in a lot of tough spots, but I thought we did a really good job on their key guys.
“We went on a 17-3 run up there [in game one], they went on a 21-0 run, you take that out and we were pretty good.
“It’s part of the game and you’ve got to play for how long the game is going, but I thought we did a better job of being more consistent, especially on the offensive end, getting more quality looks.”
Trey Kell III, the Hawks star of game one, could not buy a basket less than 48 hours later with six points on 1-10 shooting, but stayed engaged with eight rebounds and six assists, while Tyler Harvey had 10 points on 3-13 from the field.
Gritty guard Will Hickey kept the Hawks in touch with 19 points, but they were swamped by the Phoenix stars the longer the game wore on.
The Hawks free throw shooting was woeful, leaving 12 freebies at the line as they shot 17-29 (58%).
King was not happy with Phoenix’s rebounding on the defensive end, something he wants cleaned before the third and deciding game in Wollongong on Wednesday night.
Encouraging Days
Reintegrating powerful forward Darius Days after a hamstring injury was a slow process for the Hawks.
Days only played four minutes in game one, but he came out like a bull out of a gate in game two.
The 25-year-old showed his excitement to be back and playing meaningful minutes by headbutting the goal stanchion in delight after completing a layup wedged between two defenders.
Days’s impact was significant early and Phoenix did not have a like-for-like match up.
He ruled the paint with eight points and four rebounds in the first, but got into foul trouble and faded.
Phoenix rise
Phoenix came out breathing fire in the second on a 9-2 run.
Hurt was locked in, converting a three-point play and then launching a three, giving Phoenix a double digit lead.
He scored 13 points in the second quarter to give Phoenix a 51-47 lead at half time.
Hickey was influential off the bench as the Hawks re-took the lead late in the third.
It was blow for blow for the duration but Phoenix’s starters were too consistent across the course of the game and eventually found a way.
Joe Wieskamp landed a significant blow with a three with 2:19 left to give Phoenix a six-point lead.
Phoenix held on and Harvey showed his frustration at the end, fouling out defending Foxwell, before shoving him in the back and leaving to a chorus of boos.
NBL SCOREBOARD
South East Melbourne Phoenix 101 (Hurt 30 Sobey 25) d Illawarra Hawks 94 (Hickey 19 Froling 11).
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne
Best of three series is tied 1-1.
Windler fuels phenomenal fightback as Wildcats force decider
An extraordinary second half from Dylan Windler has kept the Perth Wildcats alive in the Semi-Final series against Melbourne United.
Windler piled on 20 points and brought down seven rebounds in the second half, to lead a remarkable comeback by the Wildcats, who claimed a 96-89 win at RAC Arena.
Perth trailed by 20 points in the opening half and by 14 points at half-time. Veteran Jesse Wagstaff was their top scorer with 10 points.
Melbourne looked well on its way to confirming a spot in its second consecutive Championship Series. They led 81-74 with seven minutes to play.
Windler’s double double, of 27 points and 11 rebounds ensured that didn’t happen, for now.
Game 3 will be played at John Cain Arena on Tuesday.
PERTH’S SCORING WOES
For most of Saturday’s game, the Wildcats could not find a way to the basket.
With Bryce Cotton being restricted by Shea Ili, they needed someone to step up.
Melbourne had led by as many as 20 points in the first half, and by a double-figure margin for most of the game.
Keanu Pinder had just eight points at 20 per cent shooting. Ben Henshall didn’t score his first point until late in the game.
The 11 points from Windler in the third term kept the margin to a manageable 11 points at the last break.
Tai Webster, who missed most of Game 1 with a shoulder injury, continued the momentum Windler gained, at the start of the fourth.
Perth trailed 74-63 at the last break, but tied the game with more than four minutes remaining after going on a 12-0 run.
WHITE LINE FEVER
Jack White continues to have the yips from the free throw line.
In Game 1, White dropped just one of four bonus shots, including one air ball.
He went to the line eight times on Saturday in Game 2 and managed to convert just two of them.
Again, one of them didn’t reach the ring.
He missed both attempts late in the final term when the scores were tied 81-81. The 12,961 strong crowd didn’t make it easy on him, and Perth coach John Rillie called a time out just as he was about to shoot.
KEEPING CHRIS QUIET
Chris Goulding started Game 2 the same way he ended Game 1, when he piled on 41 points in Melbourne’s win.
Perth chose Cotton to guard him from the tip-off and within four minutes John Rillie had called for a time out, his side trailing 16-4.
Goulding had eight of those points.
He had 11 points at quarter time and his side led 36-21 lead.
Melbourne had made six from eight attempts from beyond the three-point line. Goulding had contributed three of those, at 100 per cent shooting.
Perth had missed all three of their shots from the same distance, some not even touching the ring.
Ben Henshall was given the job on Goulding for most of the remainder of the game. He kept him to just four points, at three of 14 shooting from long range. That was still Melbourne’s top score.
GAME 1: Goulding goes berserk in big win
A trademark Chris Goulding scoring blitz was the impetus for Melbourne United to overturn a half-time deficit and take game one of its best-of-three semi final series 105-93 over Perth Wildcats at John Cain Arena on Thursday night.
Goulding piled on 15 points in the third quarter, including four triples, to break the game open to give United a 10-point three quarter time lead.
Then with the Wildcats making one final push, starting the fourth period on a 7-0 run and cutting the deficit to two, Goulding again erupted.
The 36-year-old shooting sensation piled on five fourth quarter three pointers to put the game out of reach of the Wildcats, finishing with 41 points, including a remarkable 10-17 from three.
CHRIS GOULDING HAS 41 POINTS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Vn8WuXF9v0
— NBL (@NBL) February 27, 2025
“Yeah we had some really bad periods and some good stuff - much like our season,” Goulding said.
“Good to get a win.
“We need to be better going over there. We look forward to that game.
“A win’s a win; we love our crowd, they come out on Thursday night, they’re loud and they stick with us through the ups and downs.”
Operation Bryce Cotton was in full swing for United.
Cotton scored with MVP efficiency with 22 points on 8/12 shooting, but United’s team defence was too locked in.
Limited the 32-year-old scoring maestro to just 12 shots was a definite win for United.
Ian Clark was huge off the bench for United.
The veteran guard finished with 22 points on 10-17 shooting.
It meant that United out-scored the Wildcats 37-13 in bench points - a key factor in the game.
The victory continued United’s stranglehold over the Wildcats, winning all four matches between the teams so far this season, and 16 of the last 21 games going back five seasons.
United has a chance to return to the NBL championship series if they can close out the series in Perth on Saturday night.
Brutal start
The brutality of a United-Wildcats playoff series was on show early.
Wildcats import forward Dylan Windler aggressively drove to the basket and United’s defensive player of the year Shea Ili stood tall and copped his knee to the ribs.
There was initial concern for Ili, who looked worse for wear, but he returned to the game to applause from the home fans.
It was the kind of bravery needed in a series that will likely be settled by fine margins.
Tough night for MVP
With Ili sweating on his every move, it took seven minutes for Cotton to score his first points.
By which time United had opened up a healthy 10-point advantage before heading to quarter time with a 23-17 lead
Ili was sweating on Cotton’s every move.
Ominously, Cotton swished his first three point attempt after quarter time.
The league MVP started to find holes in what had been water-tight United defence during the second period.
With the Cotton threat looming large, space opened up for Wildcats forward Kristian Doolittle and centre Keanu Pinder on the offensive end, with all three registering double digits in the first half.
Doolittle’s ability to disrupt and get on the boards was crucial for the Cats.
He had 22 points and nine rebounds.
Clark cooks
Clark’s first half impact for United was huge with the veteran shooting guard racking up 16 points by half time, but it was the Wildcats who led 50-49 at the half.
Pinder kept the United bigs Rob Loe and Marcus Lee on their toes with his dogged determination.
The masked big was superb throughout with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
With Wildcats guard Tai Webster heading to the bench with a shoulder concern, Goulding heated up to the point where Cotton was so concerned, he grabbed his jersey to give up an obvious foul.
The Wildcats were right to be concerned with Goulding completely changing the momentum of the game in the second half.
SCOREBOARD
Melbourne United 105 (Goulding 41 Clark 22 White 13) d Perth Wildcats 93 (Pinder 24 Cotton 22 Doolittle 22)
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne.
Originally published as NBL25 play-offs, SEM Phoenix, Illawarra Hawks: Hurt leads SEM charge to game three
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