WITH the National Basketball League (NBL) finals approaching at a fast pace, some of the contenders are beginning to produce some postseason-calibre performances. Saturday night saw one of those when the Illawarra Hawks travelled north to Nissan Arena to take on the Brisbane Bullets. It was the first match in Saturday’s double-header for the competition, and the visiting side were expected to come in and get the job done given their strength over the last few weeks. However, even the most optimistic of Hawks fans would have been surprised by a performance of such strength and power. Illawarra dominated the match from the opening tip on their way to a massive 31-point triumph, building plenty of momentum heading into the finals.

The Hawks stormed out of the gates with a huge opening term, scoring the first five points of the game and further extending the margin as the quarter went on. They went into the first break with a 32-15 lead, immediately putting the Bullets on the back foot. The home side rallied in the period that followed, matching Illawarra’s scoring output in a much improved term, but the damage done in the first quarter meant that they still trailed by 15 at the main break. Illawarra got back on top out of half time, getting back to its blistering first quarter form. The sheer volume of contributors for the Hawks meant the defence could not trap the ball at all, and Illawarra was able to generate plenty of scoring opportunities. Unfortunately for the Bullets, the story was much of the same in the final term, with the Hawks proving far too good and running out winners by over 30 points, in a win that sent a message to the rest of the competition.

For the victors, there were a number of vital contributors, but none were more impressive than Duop Reath who dropped a game-high 28 points (on 13-15 shooting from the field, mind you) and 11 rebounds in a powerful interior performance. He had some strong help from his teammates, with Antonius Cleveland and Tyler Harvey both registering 18 points apiece. For the Bullets Robert Franks fought hard with 19 points, but his side was completely overwhelmed by a superior opponent.

The second match of the day saw the Sydney Kings claim a tense win against a brave Adelaide 36ers side at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday night. Sydney was widely expected to get the points here, but the home side rallied in the last to make it an interesting game, but fell seven points short of the upset.