Hawks fixate on dethroning champs United

After three postponed games and a stint of COVID-19 isolation, the Illawarra Hawks will finally return to the court on Sunday, January 9.

Their opponents for the WIN Entertainment Centre round six fixture will be reigning NBL champions Melbourne United, who are 4-2 this season, after defeating Tasmania 76-72 on Saturday.

The inaugural LifeChanger Cup clash, which will tip-off our ‘Festival of Hoops’, will end the Hawks' 21-day hiatus and mark their first game of the year 2022 - where they'll be aiming to improve on their 3-1 start.

The Hawks impressive start comes on the back of the league-leading points per game total (90.5), steals (10.5) and turnover rate (9.8) as well as second in field goal percentage (0.442).

A large part of this has been the strong play of MVP candidate Duop Reath, who is recording 20.5 points, nine rebounds and 1.25 blocks each game in NBL22.

The @illawarrahawks might have suffered a less than ideal setback in #NBL22 but as soon as they're good to go, name the place, name the time and Goorj will be there. pic.twitter.com/LknFPTr098

— NBL (@NBL) December 29, 2021

Sunday will also see Reath and Australian Boomers teammates Matthew Dellavedova and Chris Goulding hit the court for the first time since the Brian Goorjian-coached side won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

That United pair have been key in helping their side rattle off four straight wins.

Former NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers Dellavedova is averaging 7.67 points, 5.33 assists and 3.17 rebounds in his first season in Australia, while three-time NBL champion Goulding has 17 points, 3.25 rebounds and a league-leading 4.75 three-pointers per contest.

Apart from the Boomers, players to keep an eye on will be each team's respective wing imports Caleb Agada, who played for Nigeria against Australia in Tokyo, and Antonius Cleveland.

Former University of Ottawa student Agada has been a big part of United's recent resurgence, thanks to 17.33 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 steals per outing.

While Memphis product Cleveland's numbers are eerily similar, with 12.5 points, six rebounds and 2.75 steals per contest - with the latter figure being good for third in the league, behind teammate Tyler Harvey (3.25) and Kings' Jaylen Adams (three).

Speaking of Harvey, the superstar guard will be looking to build on his WIN Entertainment Centre heroics after hitting the game-winner against New Zealand on December 17.

.@YoungTRaaw called game 🙌#WeAreIllawarra #FlyAsOne #NBL22 pic.twitter.com/DhdAVoY7aw

— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) December 17, 2021

To do so, Harvey will want to break his first-quarter drought - which has seen last year's MVP runner-up go scoreless through each of the first periods in NBL22.

A remarkable statistic considering he is still scoring 15.75 each game.

The final match-up that will have fans salivating is the one between Australian big men Sam and Harry Froling with Jo Lual-Acuil and Jack White.

The Townsville brothers have been solid during NBL22, including Harry's breakout game against the Bullets, where he notched 15 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Sunday's task could be their toughest to date though, coming up against Baylor and Duke alums.

In his third season with United, Lual-Acuil is putting up career-best numbers of 13.83 points, 6.67 rebounds, 1.67 assists and 2.5 blocks - which has him sitting in second in the league rankings after five rounds.

While White is starting to get his mojo back, after recently returning from a torn Achilles tendon.

This fixture also presents Hawks Tim Coenraad with a chance at securing a potential club milestone.

The 317-game veteran needs two more three-pointers for 400 in his career, which will see him become just the fourth Illawarra player to reach that level - behind Mat Campbell (1049), Glen Saville (680) and Oscar Foreman (464).

Tickets for the game, tipping off at 1pm, are available via Ticketmaster.