Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Sydney Kings R15 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 8pm AEST, Saturday 24 April

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Past meetings:

Round 5 at Qudos Bank Arena: Hawks 85 def Kings 82
Round 9 at John Cain Arena: Hawks 89 def Kings 69

THE PRELUDE

The stage is truly set for one of the matches of the season at the WIN Entertainment Centre tonight as the Illawarra Hawks and Sydney Kings do battle in 2021's third installment of the 'Freeway Series'.

A win to the Hawks will have them equal with Sydney on 13 wins and 13 losses with 10 games to play. A win to the Kings will have them two wins ahead of the Hawks and safely in third place.

The Hawks enter this game off five days rest - while the Kings are searching for their first four game win streak of the season after accounting for the Phoenix only a few nights ago.

Illawarra is currently riding a two game losing streak and the Kings have played the top three teams in their past three games.

Beyond tonight, the Hawks have 10 games to play with seven at home and three on the road, The Kings also have 10 games to play with four at home and six on the road to finish the regular season.

The Hawks will be without Cam Bairstow for the fifth straight game as he deals with a leg issue and Deng Adel is in doubt, while the Kings will hit the floor minus Didi Louzada and Dejan Vasiljevic among others. Louzada was called up to the NBA by the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this week.

THE FUN FACTS

These teams have played 100 times in NBL history with Sydney winning 54 and Illawarra 46.

The Hawks 20-point win over Sydney – in their 100^th meeting against each other – at the NBL Cup was the Hawks best shooting performance of the season at 52.9%

Sydney have won their last three games with a 20-point win at Phoenix on Thursday night where they posted 101-points. All eleven players hit the scoresheet with Jordan Hunter the player of the game with his first career double/double (19-points, 10-rebounds) with Casper Ware adding 19-points and 5-assists.

These teams have played 35 times at the WIN Entertainment Centre with 18 wins to the Hawks and 17 to the Kings.

At the end of the NBL Cup, the Hawks were the best three-point shooters at 39.1% on 10.4 makes per game.

Since the end of the NBL Cup, Sydney have led the NBL in scoring at 86.2 per game while the Hawks are the lowest scoring team at 75.7 per game. Illawarra not helped by being the worst three-point shooting team over the past six rounds at just 28% and averaging just 7.2 makes per game.

It’s been 20 years since the Hawks were the first team to qualify for the NBL Grand Final and they won the 2001 Championship which opened the floodgates for basketball in New South Wales.

From 1979 through until 2000, there were no NSW teams in the Grand Final in the first 22 years of the NBL.

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Casper Ware

The last time Tyler Harvey played at the WIN Entertainment Centre he came up with a season high 35-points against the Taipans. Harvey is averaging 21.6ppg in home games and is shooting 46.2% from three-point land on his home court (24 from 52).

Harvey has made more threes than any other player this year with 77 ahead of Nathan Sobey (75), Bryce Cotton (68), Cam Gliddon (68) and the man he will face tonight - Casper Ware (58).

Ware has not been his dominant self in Wollongong over the years, averaging 13ppg over his seven visits and just 22% from long range (13-from-58).

Both men will have to carry a heavier load in this one as key players miss from both lineups - so the winner of this matchup could be thanking their respective backups (Emmett Naar and Dexter Kernich-Drew) as it may well come down to how much rest Harvey and Ware can manage throughout what will be a thrilling contest.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Sam Froling - it's a big day for the Hawks sophomore sensation, with matchups against the in form Jordi Hunter, the reliable Criag Moller and the ever dangerous Jarell Martin looming as pivotal to both side's chances of claiming victory. 

When Froling gets going early, he's a force to be reckoned with. The young QLD product is rolling this season as the third offensive option in a Hawks lineup in desperate need of his scoring punch.

His combination with AJ Ogilvy has developed more and more as the season wears on - and with fellow big man Bairstow still out injured, and youngster Max Darling still learning the ropes, it'll largely be up to Froling to quell the influence of the Kings tall timbered trio.