Preview: South East Melbourne vs Sydney - Round 20, NBL24

Saturday, February 17 at 5:30pm AEDT | John Cain Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo | Sky Sport in NZ  - International viewership details
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South East Melbourne will welcome star captain Mitch Creek back from injury for its final game of the season. Creek has been absent with a heel injury and last played in Round 17.

Liam Santamaria has labelled the Kings’ Round 17 loss to the Phoenix as the low point of the season for the club. A defeat in this clash would end the back-to-back reigning champions’ hopes of a Finals appearance this season.

Damon Lowery believes the difference between the Kings and Hawks this season is the Illawarra players’ desire to play for their head coach.

Kings center Jordan Hunter has been selected to play for the Boomers in Australia’s upcoming FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Indonesia. It will be his first time representing his nation at senior level.

South East Melbourne
67-94 loss to Tasmania
83-99 loss to Melbourne
91-103 loss to Perth

Sydney
95-106 loss to Illawarra
78-85 loss to Adelaide
98-86 win over Melbourne

Mitch Creek
When Mitch Creek is playing for the South East Melbourne Phoenix, anything is possible.

Creek is not just the best player in this Phoenix side, he’s the captain, the leader, the barometer by which the club is measured, and one more than one occasion he’s pulled the side to an unlikely victory.

The injury-forced late-season capitulation by the Phoenix has been a common occurrence for the club over its time in the NBL, and it’s happened again in NBL24. That being said, ladder position, Finals hopes and recent form have no bearing on how the Phoenix captain plays the game, and it has no bearing on how the fans want to see their team play.

It’s been a tough run for both Creek and South East Melbourne over this final stanza of the home and away campaign, but a win over the Kings to put pay to the reigning champions’ Finals hopes would be the perfect way to end it.

“I think without Creek they couldn’t beat the Kings and spoil the party, but with him they’re every chance.” – Liam Santamaria on NBL Now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mitch Creek led from the front and was HUGE making him our GOAT Player of the Game for last night! ?<br><br>But we would also include the whole team as GOATs too. ? <a href="https://t.co/aoD4HExLi9">pic.twitter.com/aoD4HExLi9</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1750654767876264018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jaylen Adams
Jaylen Adams is the man in Sydney. He was the man when the Kings won the NBL22 title, and he’s been the man since his return to the club was announced ahead of NBL24.

The marriage between club and superstar this season hasn’t quite hit the giddy heights of that first campaign though, and the desire of a number of players in this Kings unit has been questioned consistently over the course of the campaign.

Adams is the star among stars in this side. He’s the former MVP, he’s the fan-favourite, and is, simply, the man.

If Sydney is going to keep its Finals hopes alive with a win over South East Melbourne, he has to lead the way on both ends of the floor, and show why this is his team.

“For the Kings, you just have to go in there and win. If you lose you’re on 12 wins and that’s the bottom line here ... my question is do those guys want it? Do enough of those key guys actually want to make the post-season and extend their season in the purple and gold? Some of them may not want to be there, some of them may want the season to be over, so they can go onto something else.” – Liam Santamaria on NBL Now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jaylen Adams are you kidding me??<br><br>Adams gets the ridiculous circus to shot to go — plus the foul! <br><br>Watch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL</a> LIVE on ESPN! ? <a href="https://t.co/HQRvMeLCin">pic.twitter.com/HQRvMeLCin</a></p>&mdash; ESPN Australia &amp; NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ/status/1756549961167286608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Mike Kelly vs Mahmoud Abdelfattah
Both Mike Kelly and Mahmoud Abdelfattah are under pressure at the moment, but for different reasons.

Kelly was thrown from South East Melbourne’s recent defeat against Tasmania for a pair of quickfire technical fouls. The pressure that’s building on his injury-hit side has started to show on the former NBL Coach of the Year, and a victory in the club’s final game of the season would go a long way to easing any potential shaky ground ahead of his sophomore season leading the club.

For Mahmoud Abdelfattah, that pressure has been riding on his side’s seemingly lackadaisical performances throughout the course of the NBL24 season. This Kings side has enough talent to match it with the top teams in the competition, but when the chips have been down, they’ve gone missing all too frequently.

The Phoenix are mathematically out of the Finals equation, while nothing less than a win will do for the Kings. With the players available to each side for this clash, this should be an easy game to pick on paper – but basketball isn’t played on paper.

Kelly has already masterminded an undermanned Phoenix victory over the Kings once this season, in what Liam Santamaria described as the low point of the Kings’ season, so can he do it again?

Abdelfattah has to find a way to inspire his team to victory in this game, because if he doesn’t, it’s quite simply curtains on their NBL24 campaign.

Sydney has lost its last four away games, but has won four of its last five games at John Cain Arena – and that defeat came against Melbourne United in Round 8 this season. The Phoenix have never defeated the Kings at the venue.

Abdel Nader.

South East Melbourne
Gary Browne – groin (season)
Alan Williams – knee (season)
Craig Moller – knee (season)

Sydney
Nil