Hawks soar: Illawarra comes from behind to stun the Kings as NBL proves to be a Christmas smash

The NBL had another big win on Christmas night, but it was the Hawks who claimed the biggest victory with a shock result in Sydney.

NBL on Christmas night is the gift that keeps on giving with another bumper crowd there to see the Illawarra Hawks pull off one of the upsets of the season with a 94-90 win over the Sydney Kings.

A year after 7012 fans turned up to see the Kings thrash Melbourne United, 8578 people rocked up to Qudos Bank Arena in a sign that the Christmas experiment is working.

Playing on Christmas is nothing new overseas where there will again be five blockbuster NBA games and several NFL matches on Tuesday (AEST), but it was long considered taboo in Australia until the NBL bit the bullet last year.

The concept clearly works with huge television ratings in 2022, and other sports like the Big Bash League will have to consider playing games on December 25 next year given there’s a clear hunger to skip Home Alone and Love Actually to enjoy some sport while wolfing down leftovers from Christmas lunch.

The Hawks are firing under their new coach. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

HAWKS FLYING

Interim coach Justin Tatum knows all about Christmas Day hoops, with his superstar son Jayson preparing for a blockbuster showdown with the Lakers, and that experience paid off with the Hawks pulling off a monumental upset.

After they were held to 17 points in the first quarter, Illawarra then showed why they’ve won two of their past three matches with the visitors dropping 60 points in the next 20 minutes to lead at the final change.

That momentum continued in the fourth where the lead changed several times before the visitors held their nerve with four points in the final 43 seconds.

Three-point machine Tyler Harvey was the hot hand with four triples while Sam Froling was a nightmare for the Kings defence, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds.

But it was young gun Lachlan Olbrich who provided the spark off the bench with nine points and 10 rebounds – including five offensive boards – to frustrate the Kings while he was on the court.

DJ Hogg had a big night but it wasn’t enough to save the Kings. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

SILENT NIGHT

The home crowd tried their best to get the Kings home, but it wasn’t enough as the two-time defending champs slumped to a third loss from four games.

The Kings roared out of the blocks to lead 29-17 at the first break thanks to 10 points from Jaylen Adams, but their defence fell away after that.

Adams finished with 22 points while DJ Hogg was strong with 15 points and six rebounds, but the Kings are now 9-8 and must bounce back at home on Friday night against the Taipans to rebuild belief heading into 2024.

Originally published as Hawks soar: Illawarra comes from behind to stun the Kings as NBL proves to be a Christmas smash