Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Adelaide 36ers R18 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 7:30pm AEST, Tuesday 11 May

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Past meetings:

Round 8 at State Basketball Centre: Illawarra 98 def Adelaide 89
Round 12 at Adelaide Ent Centre: Adelaide 84 def Illawarra 72

THE PRELUDE

It'll be a battle royale at the WIN Entertainment Centre tonight as the Hawks - powered by Tyler Harvey, Justinian Jessup and Sam Froling - welcome a resurgent Adelaide side - led by the likes of Josh Giddey, Isaac Humphries and Dan Johnson - to the Illawarra.

This is the first of three remaining games to be played between these teams over the remaining four rounds and should Illawarra win, they will remain fifth, but be level on win percentage with the two teams above them, Kings and Phoenix.

Adelaide will jump from seventh to fifth with a victory. The 36ers maximum wins if they are perfect for the remainder of the season is 20, but their percentage of 96.6 is the second lowest in the competition and they will have to make up five percentage points on the teams above them if a tied scenario was required to determine finalists.

Illawarra has seven more home games this season and so far are a disappointing 3-4 on their home deck.

THE FUN FACTS

Over the past four rounds, Adelaide has been the highest scoring team at 89 points per game while Illawarra has been the lowest scoring team with 73.8.

Illawarra has scored 75, 75, 76 and 69 in their past four games. Their last game was an 8-point win over the Breakers in Launceston with Tyler Harvey top scoring with 29-points.

Adelaide's lift has come from the three-point line where they are averaging a league high ten makes per game at 38.7% while the Hawks are last at 5.8 makes at a league low 26.7% over the past month.

In their last four games in Wollongong, the Hawks have shot just 60% from the foul line (49-from-81), and are the worst home shooting free-throw shooters in the NBL (every other team is above 70%).

Adelaide has won their last three games with scores of 101, 92 and 97 (in overtime). It is the first time this year they have scored 90-pts three games in a row. The 36ers are going for four wins in a row for the first time in NBL21.

Josh Giddey has now recorded three triple doubles in his past four games which only one player had ever done before – Robert Rose for the Magic in 1993 under current Hawks coach Brian Goorjian. No player in NBL history has recorded four triple doubles in a span of five games played.

Isaac Humphries is the NBL’s leading shot blocker at 2.9 per game which presently is the highest by any player since Simon Dwight in 2005 (3.2)

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Sunday Dech

It'll be an intriguing battle for Harvey if indeed Dech is the man tasked with quelling one of the most unstoppable forces in the NBL.

Harvey missed his only game of the season when these teams last met, but scored 24 against the 36ers earlier in the season in a game the Hawks won.

When Harvey scores 25-points or more the Hawks are undefeated from six games.

This is the first time back to the Illawarra for 36ers guard Dech who played 27 games for the Hawks last season (18 starts) and averaged 22 minutes per game. This season Dech has started every game for Adelaide and is averaging 32 minutes per game and career high numbers in every category.

Dech is a dogged and dertermined defender and has been a fantastic foil for emerging star Josh Giddey, often taking the most difficult defensive task night after night. He'll have his work cut out for him with Harvey in a rare vein of form over the past few weeks.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Tim Coenraad - noone will be expecting the world from Coenraad tonight but it will be intriguing to see what type of role he'll have in coach Goorjian's rotation. With NBL rules stating players must take part in at least nine matches to qualify for the playoffs, Coenraad's move back onto the roster had to come tonight or the Hawks would have run out of time to add another player to the lineup. 

The man he's replacing, Cam Bairstow, was a fundamental part of the Hawks offence and Coenraad has already admitted he won't be trying to replicate Bairstow's skill set.

Instead he'll be a floor spacer who provides outside shooting and adds a certain steel and veteran mentality on the defensive end of the floor. Coenraad has great shooting stats - 44% clip from the field and 39% from deep - in his 310 NBL games to date, and although we may not see the best of him tonight, he could be an important piece for this young and emerging Hawks lineup as the season enters it's crunch rounds.