NBL Christmas Chaos

While the rest of Australia was finishing off their turkey and Christmas pudding, the stars of the NBL were putting on a show across the cities of Hobart and Sydney, with two upsets in two games shaking up the ladder in what’s shaped as one of the closest NBL seasons in recent history.

The early fixture saw a depleted South East Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Tasmania JackJumpers in inspired fashion. The Phoenix were without MVP-candidate Mitch Creek, and were also missing Gorjok Gak and Craig Moller through injury, while an early injury to Reuben Te Rangi left the team undermanned against a JackJumpers team that was looking to solidify themselves as Championship contenders. Alan Williams also played his way through four early fouls to help command his team to victory, while Gary Browne led the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, helping the Phoenix stay in the hunt for a guaranteed Playoff spot and avoid the Play-In.

Meanwhile in Sydney, it was the Hawks’ holiday, with Illawarra coming back from 18 points down on the road in the second quarter to fight out a four point win over the Kings to keep their Play-In chances alive under interim Head Coach Justin Tatum. The Hawks were determined to gift their fans a win against their NSW rivals on Christmas, having lost their previous eight games against the Kings dating back to April 2022. Sam Froling top scored for the Hawks with 20 points, while Lachlan Olbrich provided a spark off the bench with nine points and 10 rebounds to help lead the team to its fourth win its past six games.

Quickly becoming a staple of Christmas Day in Australia, the NBL proved once again why it’s one of the best and most exciting leagues in the world, and Spalding is proud to play a major part in the festivities of the NBL on Christmas Day and every day.