Point guard showdown pivotal in Hawks' clash with Wildcats

They're a team that's had the wood on the Illawarra Hawks since their foundation year in 1982.

During their 40-year existence, the Perth Wildcats have won 93 of the 133 clashes between the two clubs.

That lop-sided record includes Perth bundling Illawarra out of NBL21 contention during last season's semi-final series.

As uneven as that ledger is, which stands at 5-2 to the Wildcats since Goorjian took over, one thing is for sure, that will mean little when both teams step onto the WIN Entertainment Centre from 8pm AEDT Saturday.

The round eight NBL22 fixture will pit the 4-2 Hawks against the 5-2 Wildcats - coincidentally who both come in on the back of a last-up defeat.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The defending champs’ 6 game win streak has propelled them into ? spot on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> ? <a href="https://twitter.com/AAMI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AAMI</a> <a href="https://t.co/c65olbzB5A">pic.twitter.com/c65olbzB5A</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1483559771009855488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The highlight of the match will no doubt be the clash of the two point guards and top-two finishers in last season's MVP race - Bryce Cotton and Tyler Harvey.

The former, a three-time NBL MVP winner, is averaging a league-leading 22.71 points per contest, to go with 4.43 assists and 3.86 rebounds.

While Californian product Harvey, in his second season with the foundation club, is totalling 15.83 points, three rebounds and a league-leading 2.67 steals per outing.

"Perth is always tough - they're a great team," Harvey said.

It will also mark the first time Illawarra Hawks junior and now Perth development player Kyle Zunic will play against his boyhood club.

Moving into the frontcourt and Hawks athletic forward Antonius Cleveland and Sam Froling will go toe-to-toe with American imports Michael Frazier II and Law.

In his first season in Australia, Memphis talent Cleveland is posting 12.5 points and 6.33 boards, while Froling is fresh off a weekend where he scored a career-high 27 points against the Sydney Kings.

Former Houston Rocket Frazier II was been solid during his four games this season, which includes a 13-point, eight-rebound performance against Tasmania on December 19.

While his frontcourt partner in crime Law has lived up to the label of being the biggest NBL transfer of the off-season, with the former Brisbane Bullet dominating in NBL22 - to create arguably the best one-two punch in the league alongside Cotton.

Through his six games as a Wildcat, the Chicago talent is averaging 22 points (third-best in the league), eight rebounds and 1.29 assists.

The position where the Hawks should have a distinct advantage is in the middle of the paint, where Duop Reath (16.83 points/7.67 rebounds) will be pitted against Majok Majok - with skipper AJ Ogilvy and young gun Akoldah Gak also assisting the Australian Boomer.

The bench battle is also set to be intriguing, with Six Man of the Year candidate Xavier Rathan-Mayes leading the Hawks' second unit, which also features Tim Coenraad, Emmett Naar, Isaac White and Harry Froling - who has really found his feet of late, as shown by 14 points against Melbourne United on Sunday.

On the flipside, the Wildcats' bench unit includes former Hawk Todd Blanchfield, Jesse Wagstaff, Matt Hodgson and Luke Travers.

Tickets for the match, which will have PeopleCare as the game night partner, are available via Ticketmaster.

If you can't get to the WIN Entertainment Centre, HawkHeads can watch the game on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel.