More than just victory on line against Kings

More than just victory will be on the line when the Illawarra Hawks host the Sydney Kings at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night.

If the Hawks, who defeated the Kings by eight points on both occasions this season, win the round 19 showdown, they will claim the Adrian Hurley Cup for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

As well as that silverware, the hosts will claim interstate bragging rights and a jump on their rivals in a race for finals spots.

The showdown will also pit the NBL's two hottest teams against one another, with the Hawks (who are the only side Sydney haven't beaten this campaign) coming in on a six-game win streak and the Kings a 12-game run.

"I want to finish first," Hawks forward Antonius Cleveland said.

"I want this team to be remembered, that's our mindset.

"We're not trying to make the four, we're playing to win every game.

"A couple of weeks ago, we went through the schedule and though we want to win four out of these six, now the attitude is to win out and finish this thing at the top."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ARCH-RIVALS COLLIDE ?<br><br>Get your ? to episode 3?? of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AdrianHurleyCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AdrianHurleyCup</a> against the <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> now: <a href="https://t.co/zIXq4qLW1U">https://t.co/zIXq4qLW1U</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/BgHEO56nIN">pic.twitter.com/BgHEO56nIN</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1513678238052016128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Both NSW teams have not finished in the top four in the same season since 2013 when the Hawks finished third and the Kings fourth - before both were swept 0-2.

Previous to that, it was in 2006 where the Kings finished first and the Hawks third but they did not play each other in the finals.

In 2005, the Hawks and Kings played in the decider with Sydney winning their most recent championship in the most one-sided grand final series ever played.

Thursday will mark former Hawk Angus Glover’s first career game back in his hometown of Wollongong against Illawarra, as he missed both games last season and also the round seven game this year due to COVID-19 protocols.

It will also be Brian Goorjian's side's final regular-season home game of NBL22, with the squad being 8-5 at the WIN Entertainment Centre thus far (compared to 8-6 last campaign).

Much like the Hawks, who have been road warriors during the backend of this season, the round 19 showdown will represent the Kings' seventh straight away from Qudos Bank Arena, including Tuesday's tight win against the Breakers in Bendigo - with their last game on home court being March 6.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Skipper <a href="https://twitter.com/AJ_Ogilvy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJ_Ogilvy</a> explains why he's confident our Hawks can punch their finals ticket against arch-rivals the <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> on Thursday, during this week's <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarramerc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarramerc</a> 'Captain's Call'.<br><br>?: <a href="https://t.co/gElnBF2ehj">https://t.co/gElnBF2ehj</a><br>??: <a href="https://t.co/WtBLU1sRCq">https://t.co/WtBLU1sRCq</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/bqdsNipios">pic.twitter.com/bqdsNipios</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1513765137064558594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Since the start of round 16, Illawarra has been the highest-scoring team at 96.2 points/game and the Kings have been second at 91.2ppg.

To put that in context, for the first 15 rounds, the Hawks were the third highest-scoring team at 86.8 per game.

A big part of that has been the play of Memphis product Cleveland, who is averaging 18.7ppg while shooting 57 per cent from the field - the highest-scoring mark of any player from either NSW-based side.

Just behind Cleveland is Kings guard Jaylen Adams, who is averaging 17.2 points per game, which ranks him 12th in scoring in the last four rounds.

Adams' 6.6 assists per game are ranked second behind Scott Machado (7.3).

In the first 15 rounds, Adams was averaging 20.8 points (ranked fourth) and was first in assists at 6.1

From a team perspective, the Kings, who will play their 1000th ever NBL game on Thursday, hold a 56-48 all-time advantage over the Hawks but the latter is 4-2 since former Sydney coach Goorjian took the helm.

In other Hawks news, if guard Emmett Naar hits the court on Thursday, it'll mark his 100th appearance in the NBL.

Grab your seats for the blockbuster clash now via Ticketmaster.