The "masterstroke" behind Hawks' win

With all the stars making big plays on the floor, the first two games of this series have been separated by coach’s tactics, Pete Hooley says.

"We talked about Game 1 and the mastermind of Dean Vickerman in the second half ... well it was a masterstroke from Justin Tatum to go big in this one," Hooley said on NBL Now.

"(Lachlan) Olbrich who we barely saw in the first game, played alongside (Sam) Froling for a large majority of the second quarter onwards and they were beating them up on the glass.”

In Game 1, Olbrich played just four minutes and was largely ineffective. Froling on the other hand dominated that game early, before seeing limited minutes down the stretch in defeat.

The Hawks' star big man had a super-efficient 23 points on the night, but it was his ability to draw fouls that became crucial to his team’s success and made United have to go deep into their rotation. 

"The foul trouble that it caused for the United bigs ... instead of going small to match that, Justin Tatum went big," Hooley continued.

"It’s no surprise they had success with that, because we know Froling loves playing United."

Both big men for the Hawks drew five fouls a piece, which in turn caused Dean Vickerman to have to completely change his usual rotation.

Olbrich finished with seven points, but was an equal team best +14 in the plus-minus column.

With Tatum continuing to roll out big lineups, it proved to be a deciding factor in the rebound count.

"The Hawks had 22 offensive rebounds, that’s a lot," Lanard Copeland said on NBL Now.

"When you are getting those boards and you have shooters on the outside and giving them second and third shots, you’re always going to be in the game."