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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
It was all about missed opportunity for Matthew Dellavedova and his team on Wednesday night, as Melbourne United gave up home court advantage and an early chance to lift the championship trophy. United fell to a 71-80 loss against a desperate Illawarra outfit, which had two key players on the sidelines.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
To take the pressure off himself heading into Game 4, Melbourne United forward Jack White wanted to get back to enjoying his basketball and having Matthew Dellavedova feeding him certainly helped him achieve that. After not scoring nor attempting a single field goal in the Game 2 Championship Series loss to the Illawarra Hawks, White delivered 20 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in Sunday's Game 3 win.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
The Illawarra Hawks haven't lost consecutive games yet in 2025 and Justin Tatum is confident it won't start in Game 4 of the Championship Series despite his frustrations from the Game 3 loss. The Hawks led by 10 on Sunday early in the fourth quarter of Game 3 at the WIN Entertainment Centre but Melbourne United went on a 20-4 run from there to take the 2-1 series lead.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
When Tyler Harvey fouled Ian Clark to send him to the line with just 10.4 seconds remaining, the Illawarra Hawks' Championship hopes looked under real threat. Already down 1-0 in the Series and with Clark a lights-out free-throw shooter, Harvey admitted it was a "bonehead play", as the United star knocked down all three shots and gave his team a one-point lead. He knew he had to make up for it.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
The Illawarra Hawks have been the best offensive rebounding team all throughout NBL25, but had that advantage turned on its head by Melbourne United in Game 1 of the Championship Series. Dean Vickerman's team had a defining 17 offensive boards for 22 second-chance points, while the Hawks managed just nine for 11 points, as Melbourne went 1-0 in the series with a 96-88 victory.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
The alarm bells were ringing at half-time of Game 1 of the NBL Championship Series for Melbourne United, but coach Dean Vickerman says he always had full faith in the experience of his group to shine through. One of the big keys to United's 96-88 win, shutting down the influence of Sam Froling after half-time. The Illawarra big man had 12 first half points, but just four in the second, as Marcus Lee stood tall for the visitors.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
Game 3 didn’t pan out how the South East Melbourne Phoenix hoped, but coach Josh King was still beaming with pride in a playing group that embraced him fully and were within one win of the Championship Series. The series decider was one to forget with the 30-point loss after trailing by as much as 43, but King coached the Phoenix to 18 wins and just 10 losses after taking over the reins early in the season. At the time, they had a 2-6 record and had just parted ways with Mike Kelly.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
What stuck with Dean Vickerman after last season's heartbreak was that they didn't execute how they'd like in the clutch. Now for a third time, they've done it perfectly in NBL25 and it's a big reason they are in the NBL Championship Series. Having lost last year's series in the most heartbreaking of fashions a year ago, when the Tasmania JackJumpers took the big moments, Vickerman was relieved and delighted that in Game 3 on Tuesday night, his team stood up.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
John Rillie knows whatever decisions he made would be questioned if Perth didn't win the NBL Playoff Series, but the reality was going small and shortening his rotation is why his team pushed Melbourne United to the brink. Game 1 in Melbourne didn’t go to plan when Chris Goulding hit nine second half threes to take it away from the Wildcats. Then they found themselves 20 points down in the third quarter of Game 2 on Saturday at RAC Arena.
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1 month ago | 
nbl.com.au | Chris Pike
Justin Tatum is willing to put the Illawarra Hawks' shooting struggles and turnovers down to a bad day in Game 2, with the Coach of the Year confident in how his team will respond in Wednesday's sudden death Game 3. The last two times the Hawks lost in the regular season, they hit back in ominous fashion, with a pair of 20+ point wins following their defeats.