That one Hurt: Phoenix lament scoring drought

South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Josh King was left to lament a 21-0 scoring drought at the hands of the Illawarra Hawks on Friday night, which ultimately proved the difference between the two sides. 

South East Melbourne delivered a blistering 34-point second quarter to be leading Game 1 at half-time before giving up 32 to the Hawks in the third while having a more than five-minute scoring drought.

The Hawks have put up 101.4 points and just 9.3 turnovers all season, and they scored another 101 points for six turnovers on Friday night.

Then there was the 15 offensive rebounds for 20 second chance points Illawarra had to go with 16 fast break points and winning the possession game with 11 extra shot attempts and five more free throws.

King was matter of fact on what let his team down but optimistic looking ahead to Game 2 on Sunday at John Cain Arena.

"They got second chance points and we didn’t rebound the basketball. They got offensive rebounds, second chance points and the 50-50 balls, hustle plays and that's what happened," King said.

"Nothing more, nothing less, and we couldn’t score the ball. We were taking the ball out, the ball got a little bit sticky and it all came down to offensive rebounds and second chance points.

"They had five offensive rebounds in the first half and 10 in the second half, that's what happened. We have to keep them out of transition and in the half-court, and away from the offensive rebounds."

While Derrick Walton Jr made strong return from a hamstring injury, with 11 assists to go with 15 points, and fellow import Joe Wieskamp had 22 points, seven boards and three steals, it was a tough night at the office for another Phoenix star. 

First-Team member Matt Hurt attempted just six shots 34:35 of court time, for 10 points and six rebounds.

That's a player who has been averaging 20.4 points and 14.6 shot attempts all season long.

King wasn’t surprised with the physical nature Illawarra defended him, with the likes of Mason Peatling, Todd Blanchfield and even at times Sam Froling and Lachlan Olbrich.

"They were physical with him and he got frustrated. We'll work to get him the ball more, but teams aren’t just going to let Matt Hurt catch the ball where he wants and get to his spots," King said.

"If you do that, it's going to be a long night for somebody. We have to work and do a better job to get him into some open situations, but they were really physical with him and beat him up a little bit. We have to do a better job to get him more shots."

King praised the Walton, with the NBL23 champion quick to find his feet after such an extended period on the sidelines. 

"I thought D-Walt was great tonight for not playing for such a long time. He played with great pace, great energy and the ball was flying up and down the floor," King said.

"I thought he did a lot of really good things for us and there was a lot of things as a team we did well if you take out that five-minute stretch.

"Don't get me wrong, you have to make shots too, but you have to defend and I thought we lost the hustle award and the 50-50 balls, the offensive rebounds and that's what catapulted them. And they are a very dangerous team when you allow that to happen."

The teams head to Melbourne on Sunday, as the Phoenix get the chance to atone for their Game 1 loss at John Cain Arena from 2.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN, 10 & 10 Play.