Gutsy Bullets send Hawks into freefall

How did they lose that? The Illawarra Hawks will have some serious soul-searching to do after tossing a seemingly certain victory in the bin in their 88-82 loss to the Brisbane Bullets in Wollongong on Wednesday night.

The Bullets entered the match ripe for the picking at WIN Entertainment Centre. 

They had lost three games on the bounce, had been rocked by injury and illness and lost star import Vic Law to a season-ending injury during the week. They looked listless and disorganised, shot just 33 per cent in the first half and turned the ball over seven times.

Brisbane was able to activate replacement import Lamar Patterson, but he fouled out in the third quarter with just four points to his name; and Bullets star Nathan Sobey had just four points for the first half as well. 

But basketball is a game of two halves and the Hawks opened the door a crack in the third quarter which allowed Brisbane to shoot their way to the front in a hail of Bullets three-pointers. 

It still went down to the wire as the Bullets turned the ball over 17 times, including at crucial moments down the stretch. 

Justinian Jessup had the crowd in raptures with a late long bomb but the officials ruled he had a foot on the line and it counted for just two points. When the Hawks turned the ball over on an inbound pass with 20 seconds left on the clock it was goodnight nurse. 

Fans will be changing their Jason Cadee jerseys to read Jason Cad33 after the guard punished the Hawks with 22 points including five triples while Harry Froling joined the party with three triples as he assembled a complete game with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Sobey might have started the game slowly but he finished it in a big hurry, dunking and shooting the daggers that cut down any hope of a Hawks fightback on his way to 17 points, five rebounds and six assists. 

Brisbane coach Andrej Lemanis praised the resolve of his side to turn things around after weeks of adversity.

"The most pleasing thing was that we showed a bit of grunt and grit and found a way to play that way when things got a bit tough for us," he said.

"We've had some challenges that we've faced over the last couple of weeks ... but we can't have excuses anymore. Being away from home, down on numbers, it doesn't matter.

"We have to find a way to win games, but more importantly we have to play hard."

The result means that the Hawks have now lost five of their last six matches and the top four is starting to slide out of view.

Import Tyler Harvey missed their last-start loss against Adelaide with back spasms but toiled his way to 18 points and four assists while Jessup (19 points) and Daniel Grida (12 points, five rebounds) also chipped in.

But the Hawks will be left to sift through the carnage and find out how they coughed up a 14-point lead and somehow ended up losing the rebound count they dominated so easily in the first half.

Stunned Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said "I don't have my finger on the answer" in response to the third-quarter capitulation.

"I'm just trying to figure this out," he said.

"Tonight was really important for us and I think everyone knew it, the guys knew it, we talked prior to the game about staying locked in and no breakdowns.

"I don't know if it is youth ... we just tend to have breakdowns offensively, breakdowns defensively.

"It was a bad sign for us that we were not able to go through the grind at the end of the game when it got frantic. It is something that other teams do, and we haven't been able to do it. Tonight was one that got away."

Both sides came into the contest desperate for a win to stay in touch with the top four. The injury and illness-ravaged Bullets had lost their last three games while the Hawks had won only once in five starts - their only victory coming against Brisbane.

It was a less than perfect start for Brisbane with three straight turnovers but luckily for them the Hawks could not make them pay on the offensive end. It took a little while for the home side to get going but the Bullets were flush out of answers as Illawarra eased out to a 14-4 advantage.

The Hawks were doing a great job of keeping Sobey and Cadee out of the game and while Lamar came off the bench full of enjoy, the points just wouldn't drop for the Bullets. 

A goaltend on the whistle proved to be a unique way for Brisbane to get points on the board but they all count and they only trailed 20-11 at the first break. 

There was a clear gulf in class between the two sides, the Bullets look flat and disorganised but despite looking the slicker of the two teams, the Hawks were not scoring enough to kick clean. An unsportsmanlike foul from Harvey didn't help and somehow Brisbane got back within five points.

There was no cohesion in the Brisbane offence though and they were getting badly beaten on the boards. 

The Bullets' clip sunk to below 20 per cent and it was a comedy of errors on the halftime buzzer as they missed four attempts at the basket, but somehow they were still in it as they went into the main break trailing 42-33.

The Bullets needed a fast start to the third quarter and Froling delivered with a brace of triples that inspired his side and allowed them to get back to within a single point. Sam Froling then tossed up a couple of bricks at the charity stripe and suddenly Cadee put his side in front and the Hawks were the ones on the ropes.

When Sobey finally managed to splash a triple the Bullets were on a 22-8 tear and the Hawks were looking shot to ribbons. When Cadee pulled off a four-point play with a foul shot and a triple in the final quarter the Bullets were well and truly in control with an eight-point lead.

Any thoughts of Sobey finishing the game as quiet as he started were put to bed when he slammed home a rare dunk before burying a more typical 25-foot jump shot to put his side in the box seat.

It doesn't get any easier for the Bullets with tough road assignments against Melbourne United in five days followed by a matchup against the rebuilding Breakers in Tasmania. 

Lemanis said that Tanner Krebs would miss both of those matches while a final decision on Law was pending.

"It was Lamar's first game back tonight, and he will benefit from that hit out, he only had one practice leading into today," he said.

"Tanner is still a couple of weeks away. Vic has seen the specialist today and spoken to his US specialist today, so we will get some clarity on that over the next 24-48 hours."

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 82 (Jessup 19, Harvey 18, Grida 12)

BRISBANE BULLETS 88 (Cadee 22, Froling 21, Sobey 17) 

BOX SCORE