How Hawks star has transformed his game

William Hickey has stolen the headlines for his inspired performance in Game 2 of the Playoff Series between Melbourne and Illawarra, but Derek Rucker has praised a pair of Illawarra’s stars for silencing the doubters in the Hawks’ heart-stopping Game 2 win.

Neither Gary Clark nor Tyler Harvey was at their best in Illawarra’s Game 1 defeat. Clark still finished the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but he also committed five turnovers, as he was hobbled by Luke Travers and a lingering ankle issue.

Harvey, on the other hand, struggled to find his shot at key points in the game, and made some rash decisions in Melbourne’s fourth quarter comeback.

That was not the case on Sunday night.

Rucker believes Clark will take mountains of confidence from his Foot Locker Player of the Game performance into the do-or-die final clash of the series on Wednesday.

“I mentioned in the third period to Andrew about the intelligence of excellent basketball players, being able to make adjustments week to week, game to game, but sometimes in big moments like this you have to figure it out on the spot,” Rucker said on the Coca-Cola Cool Down.

“I thought Gary Clark after being neutralised in Game 1, and then in this game the third quarter Travers did a really good job, but in the fourth quarter Clark started to find ways to make it work.

“All of those points and that impact wasn’t against Travers, but enough of them were to give Clark confidence now, I believe, that there is virtually nobody on Melbourne United that can handle him in a one-on-one situation.”

Harvey looked like he could have ended Game 2 seated beside head coach Justin Tatum, after he committed his fourth foul of the game early in the final term, however the former MVP candidate showed his composure to play a crucial role in both the fourth and overtime periods.

He finished the game with 23 points and had immense success with his floater – especially late in the game. Although he wasn’t quite dialed in from three-point range, he hit 10 of his 13 shot attempts inside the arc for the game.

“All his points mattered in this game, and that hasn’t always been the case with Tyler Harvey,” Rucker said.

“Sometimes he’s had fluff points, points that down the stretch didn’t really matter, or he’s had big games and negated the effectiveness of his big games by making questionable plays down the stretch.

“Today we saw none of that and it was good to see him get his confidence again, knock down some shots, play some really sound basketball, and not foul out. He picked up his fourth foul with about 6:30 to go in the game and he and Justin Tatum were able to navigate that situation and he was able to play the rest of the game.

“I can’t praise the guy enough, and the change he’s made rapidly to his playing style and his on-court personality.”

Game 3 of the Playoff Series between Melbourne and Illawarra will tip off at 7:30pm AEDT on Wednesday night, live on ESPN via Kayo.