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Melbourne United vs Illawarra Hawks Live Stream & Tips - United to win NBL Championship Series Game 2

Jeremy Darke

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Last updated: 11 Mar 2025

Jeremy Darke 11 Mar 2025

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Melbourne United vs Illawarra Hawks expert predictions for Wednesday’s Championship Series NBL matchup
United lead the series 1-0 against the Hawks
Chris Goulding and Matthew Dellavedova played pivotal roles in Game 1 victory
Melbourne's dominant defence and rebounding were critical in their win

Melbourne United vs Illawarra Hawks Preview
Head to Head
Melbourne United Form & Team News
Illawarra Hawks Form

Melbourne United vs Illawarra Hawks Preview

Melbourne United are backed to take a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Championship. After coming from 10 points down to win Game 1 comfortably 96-88, I'm backing a repeat victory on Wednesday.

Melbourne United have won their last 4 games at John Cain Arena.
Melbourne United have won 5 of their last 6 games against Illawarra at John Cain Arena.
8 of the last 10 Melbourne United home matches have had a total of over 192.5 points
Chris Goulding averaged 35.5 points at John Cain Arena (2 games) in the Playoff against Perth.

Head to Head

NBL25 Championship Series Results

08/03/25: Illawarra 88 - 96 Melbourne

NBL25 Season Series

18/01/25: Illawarra 117 - 95 Melbourne

13/12/24: Melbourne 93 - 106 Illawarra

24/10/24: Illawarra 87 - 92 Melbourne

Melbourne United Form & Team News

Game 1 of the series couldn’t have gone better for United really, beating the Hawks 96-88 in the Shire at WIN Entertainment Centre with a chance now to take a 2-0 series lead on their home court.

United held Illawarra to 88 points, which is just the third time in 18 games that the Hawks did not score 90+ points in a game.

Melbourne’s defensive display in the second half, holding Illawarra to a total of just 35 points won them the game while Chris Goulding came back from some early foul trouble and put the dagger in with some trademark threes.

Goulding finished the match with 15 points, with 11 points coming in the second half, while veteran Matthew Dellavedova led the scoring with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Marcus Lee was uncontainable for United, recording 15 rebounds along with 14 points.

United Monstered the Hawks in the paint with 17 offensive rebounds, leading to 22 second chance points in the match.

Illawarra Hawks Form

Game One was a match to forget for the Hawks needing to move on fast from their disappointing loss on their home court in the opener of the Championship Series.

The Hawks led the match 53-43 in the first half and had ample opportunity to kick on and put the first nail in in this series, but failed to capitalize on their early work, letting the game slip.

Illawarra’s leading backcourt of Trey Kell III and Tyler Harvey had a tough night, unable to overcome the pressure that the Melbourne defence put them under. Kell 6 points going 3/11 from the field, while his partner in crime Harvey didn’t muster better, hitting 7 from 21 for just 9 points.

Sam Froling unlocked the Melbourne defence in the first half with 12 points with Todd Blanchfireld also getting loose with 11 points, however, United put a stop to that quick smart in the second half with the pair combining for just 6 points after the main break.

Verdict

Melbourne United v Illawarra Hawks

Melbourne are backed to get the win at John Cain Arena with Chris Goulding finding space and dropping 20+ points, with the game total also surpassing 192.5 points.

Melbourne United

Money Line

@17/23 - 3 Units

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Over 192.5

Game Total

@11/12 - 2 Units

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Chris Goulding

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