A BLOCKBUSTER clash in Round 10 of the National Basketball League (NBL) fixture is set to take place tonight, with a rematch of last season’s Championship Series between the Illawarra Hawks and Melbourne United.

Friday night’s clash at WIN Entertainment Centre will be the first time the two teams match up since a fiery encounter in Wollongong earlier in the season, which saw a post-match altercation between the sides at midcourt after the Hawks had stunned the ladder-leaders.

With plenty of star power on both sides and both teams in strong form over the past month, there is every chance that tonight’s matchup could go down to the wire, as the championship credentials of the two teams are put to the test in a massive clash.

Illawarra Hawks vs. Melbourne United

WIN Entertainment Centre
Friday, November 21 @ 7:30pm

The reigning champions have been able to steady their season after a poor start to their title defence earlier in the fixture. However, they were handed a hefty loss at the hands of the Adelaide 36ers in the Ignite Cup on Wednesday night, which was a bit of a blow to their chances of moving up the standings amongst an even landscape.

Illawarra is capable of knocking off any side in the competition at its best, and it proved to be a winning strategy to feed the ball to JaVale McGee the last time these two sides clashed at WIN Entertainment Centre. In that match, the big man produced one of the most dominant performances of the decade, posting 37 points and 14 rebounds and was undoubtedly the biggest influence in the match.

It is widely expected that United will put plenty of effort into ensuring the star center does not have the same level of impact tonight, so it may be up to McGee’s teammates to step up. One player who is more than capable of doing that is Tyler Harvey, who did manage to post 21 points despite the loss on Wednesday, so he is in form on the scoring front.

After starting the season with 10 wins from 10 games, Melbourne United’s form has fluctuated throughout November, and it started with a pair of losses at the start of the month, one of which came against the Hawks at this very venue in what was a surprising result given the contrast in form between the sides.

However, the ladder-leaders steadied since then and look every bit the championship favourite they were at the start of the season, but they will still face a strong challenge tonight. WIN Entertainment Centre has not been a successful venue for Melbourne, with two of their three most recent losses coming there, so they will be eager to buck that trend tonight.

Big man Jesse Edwards was comfortably bested by McGee when United last travelled to Wollongong earlier this month, allowing McGee to do as he pleased. It was a surprisingly poor performance from one of the best shot blockers in the NBL, and he will be very eager to not have history repeat itself later tonight.