Match Preview: Home against the Hawks

The Adelaide 36ers are back at home on Sunday against the reigning NBL Champions Illawarra, eager to make up for last weekend’s narrow loss to Melbourne United.

The Sixers boast an impressive record against the Hawks, particularly at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre where they have won seven of their 10 meetings.

A win on Sunday will make it six straight victories over Illawarra if you include the 21-point pre-season Blitz victory in August.

The last time the Hawks beat the Sixers was back in December 2023 at WIN Entertainment Centre.

The 36ers will be celebrating Indigenous Round, wearing a specially designed jersey with game entertainment celebrating Indigenous culture and the contribution of First Nations players and coaches to the game of basketball.

The reigning champion Hawks have won only two of their seven games so far this season, and are coming off a record 42 point loss at home to New Zealand on Friday night.

A shining light for the Hawks has been import recruit JaVale McGee, who is being spoken about by commentators as being in the NBL MVP conversation.

McGee has been a revelation since coming to the competition in the off-season  and while the experienced former NBA star was held scoreless after half time against the Breakers, he finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and now ranks third in the competition for points (21.3 per game), second for rebounds (10.6 per game), and first for blocks (2.14 per game). 

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells said his side would be wary of McGee, who he worked with when the pair were at the Washington Wizards over a decade ago.

“He's such a dominant force. His usage rate is number one in the league right now by a large margin,” Wells said.

“He is the guy that sort of operates and leads that team right now, and then obviously, you've got Tyler Harvey and now (Will) Hickey and some of these other guys coming back.

“But, how we guard him, how we're able to sort of just be around him and sort of try to influence him in a certain types of shots without fouling him.

“One of the things on Sunday that was a big deal for us was our fouls with our bigs, our ability to function as a team, as in with every team in this league.

“Fouls are always going to be a part of the game. We'd like to be able to defend him and guard him and put him in a crowd, and all those things that coaches talk about, but ultimately, you know, try not to foul.”

Sunday’s game gets underway at 4:00pm ACDT.

ADELAIDE 36ERS v ILLAWARRA HAWKS
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Sunday 2 November, 4:00pm ACDT
Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Disney+ and free on 10 Drama

OVERALL
Played 138, Adelaide 81, Illawarra 57

At Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Played 10, Adelaide 7, Illawarra 3

LAST FIVE MATCHES
*Aug 27, 2025 – 36ers 104 def Hawks 83 at AIS Arena, Canberra (Blitz)
Jan 13, 2025 – 36ers 91 def Hawks 88 at AEC
Nov 10, 2024 – 36ers 93 def Hawks 79 at AEC
Oct 5, 2024 – 36ers 102 def Hawks 100 at WIN Entertainment Centre
Jan 20, 2024 – 36ers 96 def Hawks 89 at WIN Entertainment Centre
Dec 31, 2023 – Hawks 91 def 36ers 84 at WIN Entertainment Centre