“We put ourselves in this situation,” Coach Tatum

That one Hurt. Literally. 

When Illawarra kept South East Melbourne star Matt Hurt to just six shots on the evening in Friday’s 101-94 win in Wollongong, coaches Justin Tatum and Josh King stated in the aftermath that it wouldn’t be the case in game two. 

They were right, with Hurt grabbing the first bucket of the night and finishing with 30 points to turn the tables a full 180 and put the Phoenix on the right side of an identical 104-94 scoreline in Melbourne on Sunday.  

It means there is literally nothing between the two finals combatants heading back to Wollongong for game three on Wednesday, though the Phoenix now boast a 3-2 ledger against the regular season champs.  

In the wake of defeat on Friday, Phoenix coach Josh King remarked how similar the two teams are in style and personnel, and it’s supported by the numbers. There were just eight points separating them over three regular season fixtures, and there’s now not a digit between them through two games in the post-season.  

Having finished the regular season at the top of the ladder snapping a host of statistical records along the way, there’s no question all the pressure will be on the Hawks back in Wollongong, but Tatum said his team had “no choice” but to rise to it. 

“We put ourselves in this situation,” Tatum said. 

“I'm always confident in myself and my team to finish a job when we can, so I definitely came in thinking that we should win this game. I never doubt us, but I didn't get my team’s best basketball today.  

“Normally after a loss we bounce back pretty well, so we’re just going to believe in our body of work and get prepared for Wednesday. The proof is in the pudding of what we've been doing prior to now. 

“The guys should be hungry and disappointed in the way they played today and should have an extra edge on Wednesday. There should not be too much, besides some adjustments, that I need to do to motivate them because it's win or go home. We want to win the grand final, [then] we’ve got to win Wednesday.”  

The high identical scoreline was quite remarkable given it was a cold night for both teams that saw them shooting 42 and 41 per cent respectively from the field. Hurt’s 30 points at 4-7 from deep proved the difference, ably supported by Nathan Sobey’s 25 points and seven boards. 

With the starting unit struggling to fire, Will Hickey was a shining light for Tatum with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists, but it was a virtual lone hand, with Sam Froling (11) and Tyler Harvey (10) the only other Hawks to grind their way to double digits.  

“We knew he was going to be aggressive today,” Tatum said of Hurt. 

“They did a good job finding him in his spots and he made shots. He's at home, so we knew he was going to be a tough cover. We’ll just have to make it more difficult for him on Wednesday.”