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Perth Wildcats vs Illawarra Hawks |
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2016/17 NBL grand final series, Game 1, 26 February 2017 |
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Perth Arena, Perth, WA | ||
Perth Wildcats | Illawarra Hawks | |
89 | SCORE | 77 |
21 | Q1 | 26 |
21 | Q2 | 16 |
26 | Q3 | 20 |
21 | Q4 | 15 |
A man of the match performance from Casey Prather has led the Perth Wildcats to a 1-0 lead in the 2016-17 NBL grand final series over the Illawarra Hawks recording a 12-point victory at the Perth Arena.
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Final score
Perth Wildcats 89
Illawarra Hawks 77
In what has been one of the best NBL seasons in recent memory just two teams remain. The Perth Wildcats and Illawarra Hawks will battle it out to be crowned the 2016-2017 NBL champions. Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of Game 1, starting from 7pm AEDT.
Perth are looking to go back to back as champs after beating the New Zealand Breakers last year. Illawarra are in their first championship series in seven years, where they again faced the Perth Wildcats.
Perth steamrolled the Cairns Taipans in their semi-final series, sweeping the three-game series 2-0. Illawarra needed all three games to overcome the minor premiers Adelaide 2-1.
Damien Martyn will be the Perth player to watch with his elite defensive skills he will look to lock down Rotnei Clarke as best he can.
Illawarra will be hoping that AJ Ogilvy is healthy after he left the Hawks previous match early in the first quarter, Perth has a couple of talented big men and without Ogilvy it will make it very difficult for the Hawks to get the win.
Illawarra will have just a three-day break while the Wildcats are well rested after a six-day break.
Amazingly after being in the position of almost missing finals and ultimately finishing third, the dominos have quickly fallen in Perth’s favour to give them a home advantage in this series.
While the Wildcats are well-rested, the Hawks have had a chance to keep playing games and this can often be a blessing in disguise.
However, the quick turnaround and the trip across Australia may prove too much for the Hawks in the opening game.
Prediction
Wildcats 9 points.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of Game 1, starting from 7pm AEDT.