Musashi Match Report: Phoenix Soar Over Hawks

Keifer Sykes has been at the forefront of everything the South East Melbourne Phoenix have done this season, yet without him they delivered a standout wire-to-wire performance to beat the Illawarra Hawks 93-76 on Sunday.

The Phoenix weren’t lacking in motivation to make up for a surprise last up loss to the Adelaide 36ers at the NBL Cup in Melbourne, but without the firepower and defensive prowess of Sykes and with the NBA-credentialed Ryan Broekhoff still weeks away, the Hawks loomed as a significant threat.

But Illawarra had their recent troubles to try and overcome having lost to Brisbane on Friday and four of six overall after a 4-0 start, and it was South East Melbourne in control virtually from start to finish at John Cain Arena.

The absence of Sykes pushed fan favourite Kyle Adnam into the starting rotation of the Phoenix backcourt, who set the tone of the offence early to help set up a 12-4 lead. Adnam was on his way to a career-best 11 assists and the margin was 25-13 at quarter-time. 

Phoenix pair Yanni Wetzell (nine points) and Cam Gliddon (17 points) continued to find their way to the line, leaving Justinian Jessup on the wrong end of the foul calls early for the struggling Hawks.

The Golden State Warriors’ draftee had recorded three fouls minutes into the second quarter, forcing the Hawks’ offence to retool. Sam Froling was another frequent violator and ended up fouling out. 

In fact, it was the Hawks’ inability to get to the free-throw line compared to the Phoenix that would be the biggest difference-maker. In all, the Phoenix had 30 attempts compared to the Hawks’ seven. 

But when Tyler Harvey (14 points) made back-to-back three-pointers halfway through the second quarter, the Hawks began to find some groove and were fighting back from a 16-point deficit. 

A ret-hot Mitch Creek (25 points, 10/17 shooting) punctuated an impressive first half with a three-pointer on the stroke of half-time. 

He entered the main break shooting 7/9 from the field and 19 points. It helped the Phoenix restore their buffer and go into half-time with an eight-point lead (45-37). 

The third quarter was where the Phoenix put their stamp on this one. The Hawks had no answer on defence for Creek, and import big Ben Moore (22 points) was also on target as the Phoenix extended their three quarter-time lead to 18 points. 

It would have taken the biggest comeback of the season to pull that back, which proved too much for even the high-scoring Hawks. When Cam Bairstow (10 points, five rebounds) threatened with a pair of three-pointers, the Hawks pulled it back to 11, but that was as close as they got late. 

It was left to the ultra-impressive Adnam (11 points) to ice the game with a step-back three with two minutes to go. Game over and the Phoenix backed up handing the Hawks their first loss of the season three weeks ago which has now turned into Illawarra losing five of seven.

With the aforementioned Sykes and Broekhoff returning from a stint in the NBA to join this Phoenix squad, they are building nicely for a playoff push.

That will be tested with yet another meeting with the Perth Wildcats for the Phoenix on Wednesday while the Hawks take on the also struggling Adelaide 36ers as part of the same double-header at the State Basketball Centre.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 7
NBL CUP WEEK 2

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 93 (Creek 25, Moore 22, Gliddon 17)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 76 (Harvey 14, Simon 13, Deng 10, Bairstow 10) 

NBL CUP POINTS AWARDED – South East Melbourne Phoenix 5, Illawarra Hawks 2

Written by NBL.com.au (28/02/2021)