Hawks dominate Phoenix in Game 3

The Illawarra Hawks responded to the pressure of Game 3 with the highest-scoring first half of NBL25 with Trey Kell III unstoppable and they earned their Championship Series place hammering the South East Melbourne Phoenix 126-96.

The Hawks were on fire from the outset at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

With Kell delivering 26 points in the first half and 436-game veteran Todd Blanchfield hitting a career-best eight threes for 28 points, they couldn't be stopped to win by 30 and book in a Championship Series spot against Melbourne United.

Having secured a first ever regular season championship, the Hawks had the pressure of expectation coming back home for Game 3 and they handled that in the best possible way.

Their All-First Team back court of Kell and Tyler Harvey only combined for 16 points in Game 2 after 48 in Game 1, but Kell on his own had 16 points in the first quarter on Wednesday.

He added another 10 in the second quarter and the Hawks had dominated with the highest-scoring opening half of the season to lead 70-44 by the main break.

The Hawks went into half-time shooting 61 from the field, making 11/18 from downtown and just as importantly, holding the Phoenix to 35 per cent shooting and with Game 2 hero Matt Hurt having only four points on five shot attempts.

Illawarra went on their merry way with another 33 points to 20 in the third quarter on the way to the eventual 30-point win to enter their first Championship Series since 2017.

It's the Hawks' biggest ever finals win, and highest ever post-season score, on shooting 56 per cent from the field with 19/39 from deep while making 17/17 at the foul line after going 17/29 in Game 2.

They had 52 points in the paint to 36 while pulling down 50 rebounds to 33 and Kell ended the night with 30 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Blanchfield enjoyed his starting role with 28 points on 8/12 three-point shooting while Wani Swaka Lo Buluk added 12 points, Harvey 12 points and five assists, Davo Hickey 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Lachlan Olbrich 10 points, seven boards and three assists.

Hawks coach Justin Tatum said the irresistible performance was borne out of his players' desire to make amends for a poor Game 2 showing.

"That's what we talked about. The performance was all on them," Tatum said.

"They knew that today was going to be a slugfest and we came out punching."

It was a tough way for the Phoenix season to end where they shook off a 0-5 start to force a Game 3 as they shot 40 per cent with Hurt having just four points on 1/6 shooting with four turnovers after his 30 points in Game 2.

Joe Wieskamp top-scored with 25 points with Nathan Sobey adding 19 and Owen Foxwell 13.

Phoenix coach Josh King expressed pride in his group but conceded the Phoenix had put in a "stinker" of a performance.

"We just got punched early and it was a knockout punch," King said.

"The guys kept playing hard, they're a great group of guys but it wasn't our best night.

"It was a bad night to not be at your best with what was at stake."

The Hawks started in the best possible way with Trey Kell III opening the scoring after he had just six points in Game 2 before Wani Swaka Lo Buluk hit five quick points and the home team was led 7-1.

Illawarra were feeling good and went on a 15-0 scoring run with Kell topping that off with another pair of long balls to see them leading 24-8.

They were just warming up too and closed the opening quarter with a Tyler Harvey buzzer-beating three to lead 37-22 with Kell putting up 16 points and with them shooting 70 per cent as a team to the 35 from the Phoenix while having 15 rebounds to four.

Darius Days, Todd Blanchfield, Kell and Hyunjung Lee then all made three-point bombs in the second quarter to see the Hawks lead out beyond 20. They finished leading 70-44 at the break with the highest-scoring half of any team all NBL25.

Kell had the 26 points while the rebound count continued to be decisive with the Hawks pulling down 28 of them to 15.

There were no signs of a comeback from South East Melbourne in the second half as the Hawks enjoyed themselves over the last 20 minutes with the lead growing to as much 39 points by three quarter-time, and 43 early in the fourth.

There was even some late drama with Daniel Grida ejected over an unsportsmanlike foul and technical on a play with Joe Wieskamp but the Hawks were leading by 42 before the Phoenix scored the game's last 12 points.

The Championship Series between the Hawks and United will now get underway back at WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL PLAYOFFS 2025 – GAME 3

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 126 (Kell III 30, Blanchfield 28, Harvey 12, Swaka Lo Buluk 12)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 96 (Wieskamp 25, Sobey 19, Foxwell 13)

Illawarra Hawks win best-of-3 series 2-1

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