The NBL24 round 17 matches kicked off at 7:30 pm on Thursday, Jan 25 up to Sunday, Jan 28. Performances were electrifying with Melbourne United still at the top of the standings despite their 98-86 loss to Sydney Kings in the last game of this round. 

Generally, every match-up was praiseworthy but our main focus in this article will be the Hawks win over Perth and the Phoenix’s surprise win over Sydney Kings. 

Besides, you can leverage our best Australian basketball news and updates to stay up to speed with the latest updates on the NBL24 moments. We also spread our net wider to bring the latest news on WNBL matches, and a whole range of sports nutrition content that will shape your better understanding of the game. 

Let’s dive deep into the round-defining match-ups.

Hawks 17th Round Excellence Thrusts Them Into Top Six

The round 16 matches were a bitter pill for Illawarra Hawks fans to swallow. They suffered a pair of defeats against Cairns Taipans and Adelaide 36ers. Fast forward to round 17 match-ups; they have rebounded in a big way and are back in the top six of the NBL24 standings. 

Their first assignment of the round was on Thursday night when they travelled to Perth to take on the Wildcats. They managed to sweep down one of the NBL24’s most in-form teams with a comfortable 18-point margin on their home stands. 

It was good news for the travelling fans because previous stats painted a herculean task. The Hawks had lost 24 of their 27 at the RAC Arena. Besides, they had already lost three of their fixtures against Perth Wildcats in this season. Equally important, Wildcats were on an incredible form, winning all their six recent matches. They were literally knocking on the top-spot door. 

Nevertheless, credit to the Illawarra Hawks interim coach Justin Tatum. He made a decisive move to bench the underperforming import point guard, Justin Robinson, and the strategic move yielded a remarkable team improvement. 

The Hawks defence was excellent on the night. They managed to deny the NBL24 MVP favourite, Bryce Cotton the ball. Players would double and triple-team him to deny him a chance to sink the match-winner while daring someone else to beat them.  

Gary Clark stepped up for the Hawks scoring 17 points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting. Also, Hyunjung Lee starred in the night with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals while Sam Froling added 12 points and 5 boards. 

Their coach, Justin Tatum, was extremely excited. He hoped, after the match, that his team would build on this win (95-77), and keep pushing. 

Illawarra Hawks head coach Justin Tatum reacts after their win during the round 17 NBL match between Illawarra Hawks and New Zealand Breakers at WIN Entertainment Centre, on January 28, 2024.

“Dropping three games and coming to a place like this and see your team play this well, and as confident as we came out there for 40 minutes, I’m very excited” He continued, “I’m very happy for my group and just hope we can keep pushing.”

Their second game of the round was against the New Zealand Breakers, and again they came out all guns blazing to beat their rivals. It is important to note that before the game, only a little separated these two teams.

Actually, after the Hawks 89-85 win, they replaced the Breakers at position six. The latter are now two positions behind in the standings.

As noted earlier, The Hawks had snapped a 3-game losing run by winning in Perth 95-77 on Thursday night while the Breakers had kept their improved form after beating Tasmania JackJumpers (94-88) on Friday, Jan 26 evening.

From the look of things, this was a tight match given the fact that a top-six spot was on the line and that each of the teams has only 5 games in the remaining three rounds.  

Hawks fought their way into the win from the first quarter in which Breakers were leading by 8 points courtesy of 19 points and 11 rebounds from their star of the game, Zylan Cheatham. In the second quarter, the breakers continued with their onslaught opening a 12-point gap. The Hawks regained their footing to cut the gap to 48-42 at halftime. 

New Zealand Breakers clung to a 4-point lead in the last quarter but Lachian Olbrich (9 points, and 5 rebounds) got the Hawks back into the game. Eventually, Tyler Harvey (19 points) gave them their first lead with 5:45 on the clock 

Phoenix Stun Sydney Kings With a Surprise Win

South East Melbourne Captain Phoenix Mitchell Creek reacts during the round 17 NBL match between South East Melbourne Phoenix and Perth Wildcats at State Basketball Centre, on January 27, 2024, in Melbourne.

In another exciting game of the round, the struggling South East Melbourne Phoenix pulled a surprise win over the Kings against all odds. 

In a match that was played at Melbourne’s State Basketball Centre, the Kings found themselves outside of the top six after a 98-104 defeat on Thursday night, January 25. 

What came as a surprise was the fact that SEM were playing without their in-form players Alan Williams, Abdel Nader and Gary Browne. Also, they missed their key pair, Craig Moller and Matt Kenyon, but still turned the tide in their favour. 

Interestingly, the Phoenix had lost 8 of their last 9 games by an average of 25 points but coach Mike Kelly brushed off the shackles to emerge victorious in the Thursday night fixture. 

The Phoenix captain, Mitch Creek led the way with an outstanding performance totaling 31 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 14 points in the first quarter leading his team to 36 points against Kings 9 with a blistering 72% shooting from the field. 

They were equally dominant in the second quarter which finished with a 61-54 scoreline with Creek having 25 points while Sydney’s pressure for a response was undeniably rising. 

After the final whistle, coach Mike Kelly gave immense credit to his unheralded players. 

“The players did such a phenomenal job of being single-minded in how they want about playing” he continued, “ It was a great belief by the players and the group as a whole and it shows what can happen when you have that self-belief, and make some shots”

After the game, the Kings are now 11-13 and are on the cusp of sliding out of the top 6 with a home game to the league leaders, Melbourne United on Sunday. 

Sydney’s coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah felt that his team’s pressure wasn’t physical enough. 

“They just weren’t feeling” He continued in his post-match interview, We were supposed to pick up and pressure them full court, but they weren’t feeling is there or in the pick-and-roll coverages