Williams, Creek Fire as Phoenix Thrash Hawks

With Alan Williams continuing to flex his muscles and Mitch Creek superb once more in NBL game 300, the South East Melbourne Phoenix proved too strong for the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday, winning 112-78.

The Hawks welcomed Michael Frazier II into their line-up as the replacement for George King and Peyton Siva was back to run the ship, and they fought hard to stay in touch of the Phoenix in the first half at John Cain Arena.

However, the pairing up front of Williams and Creek was a concern as they combined for 23 first half points for South East Melbourne. With Ryan Broekhoff adding three triples, the home team was up 16 at the main break.

The Hawks had been competitive but the Phoenix blew them away in the last five minutes of the third quarter and again it was Williams leading the charge down low.

With Creek alongside him and then Broekhoff, Trey Kell III and Gary Browne around them, South East Melbourne opened up a 26-point lead by three quarter-time before going on to win by 34.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In game 3??0??0?? ... CREEKY JAMMED IT ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live and free on 10 Peach and 10play | live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/qKiUBAmZID">pic.twitter.com/qKiUBAmZID</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1596753787561000960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Phoenix finished up shooting 56 per cent from the floor while hitting 10/20 from three-point land and 26/34 at the charity stripe while winning the rebound battle 42 to 32 and forcing the Hawks into 16 turnovers. They also had 50 points in the paint to 36.

Creek celebrated his 300th NBL appearance with a game-high 27 points on the back of shooting 9/13 from the field and 8/11 at the stripe to go with six rebounds and three assists.

Following his 300th game, Creek was just proud of the team performance he was part of.

"I didn’t really make much of a fuss of it, but everyone else thought it was a big deal," Creek said. 

"You play 300 games and I still feel like it's gone really quick and it honestly feels like 150 games have been played. It's just a number and it's not really about the number of games you play, it's about how many people you can affect in a positive manner. 

"That's whether it's bringing a bit of energy, a bit of fun or a bit of a spice or creating a rivalry or picking someone up off the floor even from a crowd perspective. 

"They might come to the game a little flat and want to watch their team play well, and they see me running around with blonde hair causing a ruckus or bumping someone over or hanging onto a ball with Sam Froling for too long. 

"People enjoy that type of stuff and if they enjoy that the way I wanted to do. Simon (Mitchell) told me that I've played 300 games in the NBL and I've done it my way. I feel like I've always been my authentic self whether people like me or not."

Williams was a dominant presence again with 21 points and 12 rebounds on 7/12 shooting while Kell equalled his season best of 24 points with 3/6 three-point shooting 7/9 at the foul line.

Broekhoff hit three triples for 15 points while Gary Browne ran things impressively again for 11 points and eight assists.

It was a tough night for the Hawks the longer the game went but they would be encouraged by Frazier's first up performance with 17 points on 7/13 shooting including 3/6 from three-point territory.

Tyler Harvey scored 17 points with Peyton Siva adding 10 to go with three assists. Sam Froling had nine points and seven rebounds.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> Michael Frazier II ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live and free on 10 Peach and 10play | live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/TxhCKkZd6C">pic.twitter.com/TxhCKkZd6C</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1596735894232276993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas was anything but happy with the application from his group.

"I mean, they are talented and we were always worried about guarding them one-on-one," Jackomas said.

"Obviously they've got a lot of tools and they probably have pound for pound with five goals on the floor, individually a very talented group. I just thought from the get go the buy-in was bad and it could have been a little bit too much schemes at practice and not enough guarding. 

"A little bit of this happened to us in Brisbane where we get a new guy in to help us and we just think we arrive now. 

"We played good against Sydney with one American and now we've got two back, and it seems the effort stuff doesn’t need to happen. There could be a bit of that and it was our worst defensive effort by far, and then there was the effort areas."

South East Melbourne opened up with the game's first five points but the Hawks worked their way back into the contest beginning with a triple from new signing Michael Frazier II.

A couple of impressive finishes from Deng Deng then saw Illawarra's lead grow to 12-6 with Simon Mitchell wanting to talk things over with his Phoenix team.

He got the response he was after starting with a three ball from Ryan Broekhoff. Mitch Creek then got to work in his 300th game with 10 points for the quarter.

South East Melbourne finished off with the last nine points of the quarter to go into the break in control at 27-17.

Alan Williams was a force the Hawks had no answer for down low and he made a host of buckets in the early stages of the second quarter with South East Melbourne's lead growing to 15 before another three-pointer for Illawarra from Frazier.

Broekhoff drained his second triple and when he hit his third of the half on the buzzer for the break, the Phoenix led 54-38 on the back of shooting 57 per cent from the floor and 5/8 as a team from downtown.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How did Gary Browne do that ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live and free on 10 Peach and 10play | live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/AAi87jMYjB">pic.twitter.com/AAi87jMYjB</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1596738818224586753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks started the fourth quarter promisingly and got back to nine with Peyton Siva hitting a three ball, but the dominance of Creek and Williams proved to be an obstacle they just couldn’t overcome.

Williams and Creek were again instrumental in the South East Melbourne breaking the game further wide open with nine straight points to push the lead out to 20.

Kell and Browne combined for three triples to close the third quarter with the Phoenix on top by 26 before they cruised to the 34-point win on their home floor.

The Phoenix now back up on Thursday by taking on the red hot New Zealand Breakers on Thursday to open Round 9. The Hawks have until next Monday night to play again when they are at home to Melbourne United.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 112 (Creek 27, Kell 24, Williams 21)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 78 (Frazier 17, Harvey 17, Siva 10) 

BOX SCORE