Mitsubishi Match Recap: NBL25 Championship Series Game 1 v Illawarra Hawks

Melbourne United have gone on the road to take Game 1 of the Hungry Jack’s NBL Championship Series.

After a slow start to the contest, Jack White registered United’s first made field goal of the series, rising high for a putback.

At the other end, Shea Ili did his best to slow down the Hawks high-powered offence, swatting Tyler Harvey’s three-point attempt leading to a Marcus Lee score.

The contest remained close throughout the opening term, with Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark connecting from deep and Lee and White slamming home dunks.

Illawarra were able to take the lead in the quarter’s final possession, as Todd Blanchfield sank his last-second look from beyond the arc to set the score at 26-29.

A pair of quick scores coming out of the break from Ili and Dellavedova helped United tie up the contest quickly, however the Hawks hit back just as fast, orchestrating a 13-2 run to take control of the contest.

Some terrific play from Lee, who finished the contest 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, as well as deadeye shooting from Tanner Krebs, cut the lead back to six, however a late surge from the home side extended the advantage to 10 points heading into half time.

Looking to come out with energy, Melbourne wasted no time in cutting into the Hawks lead.

Five consecutive stops opened up free-flowing offence for United, allowing the visitors to chip the lead down to three points.

Ili, Goulding, Clark, Dellavedova and Bowen all found success inside the arc, while Krebs continued his scorching hot stretch of play, knocking down his third triple of the game.

This, along with another long-range make from Clark, and some more sound defensive play, had Melbourne within reach after three quarters, although still trailing 64-67.

With control of the momentum, Goulding went bang to start the final period, splashing a pair of three-pointers, sandwiching a Dellavedova long-range make and a Jack White dunk, to give Melbourne back the lead for the first time since the first quarter.

More stout defence allowed United to push further ahead, however the Hawks showed they still had a final run in them, cutting the margin to just four points with three minutes remaining.

Needing to execute down the stretch, Dellavedova stepped up, first knocking down his third three-pointer of the game before finding a cutting White for an alley-oop jam.

From there, Melbourne were able to remove all doubt from the result with their free throws, finishing with a 96-88 victory.

This gives United a 1-0 series lead in the Championship Series heading into Game 2 on Wednesday night at John Cain Arena from 7:30pm.

Tickets remain available here.