Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Perth Wildcats - Semi-Final Game Two

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 5:30pm AEST, Saturday 12 June

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS Viceland and Twitch

Past meetings:

Round 8 at John Cain Arena: Wildcats 87 def Hawks 70 
Round 11 at RAC Arena: Wildcats 81 def Hawks 70
Round 14 at RAC Arena: Wildcats 83 def Hawks 69
Round 21 at WIN Ent Centre: Hawks 81 def Wildcats 79
Semi-Final game 1 at RAC Arena: Hawks 74 def Wildcats 72

THE PRELUDE

There's certainly been no better narrative in NBL21 than the rise of the Illawarra Hawks, and no bigger game in Wollongong in the last four seasons than what the Illawarra faithful will experience on Saturday night at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

A win on their home deck in front of what is expected to be full house will cement the Hawks spot in their first NBL Grand Final Series since 2017. A loss to the visiting Perth Wildcats though will see both side's fly back to Perth for a decider on Monday.

A win for Illawarra will mark the first time the Hawks have beaten Perth in three consecutive games since 2006, with the home side coming into the contest in red-hot form having won nine of their last eleven games.

On the contrary, the Wildcats have lost three straight games for the first time this season and two in a row to Illawarra (both by two points).

In welcome news for Hawks fans, 24 of the last 25 playoff series played in the NBL have been won by the team that won Game One. 

Both side's are expected to take the same lineups into Game Two at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

THE FUN FACTS

The Hawks are playing their 25^th post-season final series in the NBL and are looking to sweep for just the third time. In 2005, Illawarra beat Townsville 2-0 in the Semi-Final and also swept the Crocs in the 2003 Elimination Final.

The Hawks have only once in their history won a Game One but lost the series - in the 1995 quarter-finals against Brian Goorjian’s SE Melbourne Magic. 

The last time Perth won a series after losing Game One was in the 2000 Qualifying Finals.

Trevor Gleeson and Brian Goorjian have now coached against each other now 18 times for an even 9-9 record. Interestingly, Gleeson has never lost Game One of a series as coach and managed to still win the series.

The last time Perth completed a season without at least one win against the Hawks at the WIN Entertainment Centre was back in 2011.

SEMI-FINAL GAME ONE STATS:

The Hawks total of 74 points was the Hawks lowest ever winning score against Perth in their 40 wins from 131 matches.

Illawarra had eight more offensive rebounds than Perth in Game One, which was the best by any team this season against the Wildcats. It helped generate 14 extra field goal attempts which was also a record high by any team against Perth in NBL21.

It was just the second game this season that the Wildcats led at quarter, half and three-quarter time but lost the game.

llawarra had six turnovers in Game One which was their equal lowest amount for the season.

Tyler Harvey scored 10-points on 4-from-21 shots (19%) in Game One which was the first time in nine games Harvey scored less than 15-points but the Hawks still won. 

THE MATCH UP

Justinian Jessup v Todd Blanchfield

Jessup was huge down the stretch for the Hawks, with the 'Next Star' scoring all 17 of his points in the second half after shooting 0-from-5 in the first stanza. The Wildcats looked to have Game One in the bag when leading 69-63 with just over three minutes to play, but Jessup went nuclear, scoring eight straight points for the Hawks to give them the lead for the first time in the game.

It was a fantastic turnaround for the Golden State Warriors draftee, with his scoreless opening half also compounded by the fact the man he was guarding - Todd Blanchfield - went off for the Wildcats.

Blanchfield picking up the offensive slack for Perth in the absence of Bryce Cotton - with the former Hawk helping himself to 24-points for the game on 9/16 shooting.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Sam Froling

A quick look at Slammin Sam's stat sheet shows the second-year big man had a stellar debut playoff game performance. Froling had 10 points, seven boards, four assists, two swipes and two blocks in a tick over 30 minutes of action to continue his breakout season in Illawarra.

Coach Brian Goorjian also kept Froling in for the duration of the fourth quarter to take care of the outstanding threat of the other side of the court in John Mooney. Mooney was good but not great in Game One, and despite the young American recording his 24^th double-double with 13-points and 16-rebounds, Froling took the points in the battle of the bigs.

Froling continues to go from strength to strength in the red, white and black this season and another big game from him will help the Hawks go a long way towards securing a Grand Final spot.