Hawks grit their teeth ahead of finals surge

The Hawks will continue their push to the playoffs when they face off against the Adelaide 36ers on Tuesday, one of the remaining nine games of their 2021 regular season. As it stands, the Hawks are sitting in fifth place on the ladder, one game behind the South East Melbourne Phoenix. The Phoenix currently hold the fourth and final playoff spot, and the Hawks will need a strong run home to play any part in post-season basketball.

After a year filled with travel, the Hawks will experience some home comforts as they finish off the year with seven of the last nine games to be held at home. The two remaining road games are a May 21 clash against the 36ers in Adelaide, and a trip across the ditch to face the Breakers on May 28. The trip to Adelaide will be one of three matches against the 36ers in the last nine games, who are currently sitting seventh. The Hawks will play Adelaide on May 11, 21, and 30. With speculation that likely-NBA lottery pick Josh Giddey’s days in the NBL are numbered, the Hawks may see one less talent to compete against, but players Brandon Paul and Daniel Johnson will still present a formidable scoring duo, as well as key big Isaac Humphries who has just recently returned from injury. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ROUND 18 AND 19 ?? ON SALE NOW!<br><br>36ers | Tues 11 May | 7:30pm<br>Breakers | Sat 15 May | 8:00pm<br>United | Tues 18 May | 7:30pm<br>Taipans | Sun 23 May | 5:00pm<br><br>We are back to back at the <a href="https://twitter.com/WINSportsEnt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WINSportsEnt</a> <br><br>BUY NOW - <a href="https://t.co/daZQAEBCqW">https://t.co/daZQAEBCqW</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/MLcuuFnz3P">pic.twitter.com/MLcuuFnz3P</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1390193639813304324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The only other team the Hawks see more than once in the final stretch is the New Zealand Breakers, who the Hawks are coming off a hard fought victory against. The Hawks will face NZ once at home (May 15) and once on the road (May 28), and would be hoping to secure both wins, considering the Breakers eight place position, and the fact they have not yet lost to the Breakers. 

The Hawks will also have some tough games, with the men from the Illawarra drawn to play against three of the top four teams - Melbourne United (May 18), Perth (June 1) and Sydney (June 3) - before the regular season wraps up. Perth and Melbourne in particular will be key matchups for the Hawks, as they are a combined one-and-six against the league's two best teams. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">16 Rounds down, here is where every squad sits in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> ?? <a href="https://t.co/Xpqxr2wJYO">pic.twitter.com/Xpqxr2wJYO</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1390074259142156290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Additionally, if the Hawks are to make the finals, they will face off against one of those two in the first round. The Hawks are two-and-one against Sydney this season, but they are a team who have gained significant momentum in the back half of the season, so will still present a challenging matchup for Illawarra. 

The Hawks will also run into the Cairns Taipans at home on May 23, a team they have gone three-and-one against so far, but any team featuring Scott Machado is not to be underestimated. 

The Hawks win against New Zealand broke a three game losing streak for the team, and it could be the perfect momentum shifter as they head into the final stretch. The Hawks are likely to reacquire the services of marquee signing Cam Bairstow at some stage as well - with the former Chicago Bull sidelined since late March due to injury. The Hawks will also be adjusting to playing without Deng Adel, meaning there will be minutes to fill on the Hawks bench. 

While sometimes inconsistent, the Hawks have shown the ability to put together strong stretches of basketball; winning their first four games was a good start. They will be chasing the Phoenix, who on paper have been a remarkably similar team. And once they reach the finals? Well, then anything can happen.