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SOUTH East Melbourne made the adjustments, Matt Hurt remembered he's not just an import but in the NBL All Star Five, Owen Foxwell irritated Tyler Harvey out of the contest and Nathan Sobey did enough right for Phoenix to tie its semi final against Illawarra with a 101-94 reversal.

Considering Game 2 had the identical scoreline as Game 1 with just the team names reversed, home court advantage could be the big difference in their decisive Game 3 on Wednesday.

South East certainly looked a very much more composed unit in Game 2 at John Cain Arena, Josh King basically shortening his rotation to his starters - Derrick Walton, Sobey, Joe Wieskamp, Hurt and Jordan Hunter - plus Angus Glover and Foxwell off his bench.

Malique Lewis and Ben Ayre were the biggest casualties of that decision but the Phoenix stuck to their gameplan and steadily wore Illawarra down.

Trey Kell looked fatigued through much of the game, his six points on 1-of-10 shooting, with 0-of-6 threes, and nearly every one of them identically hitting the front of the ring - a sure sign of there being very little in his legs.

His five turnovers also were uncharacteristic, particularly with three in the final quarter as South East edged away in a 35-26 finale for that 101-94 win.

The Hawks played with their usual aplomb early, despite Kell's struggles and Harvey's growing aggravations with Foxwell's attention.

Justin Tatum had his rotations working smoothly and Dan Grida providing an extra dimension with his energy and enthusiasm.

But Harvey started to fall foul of the officials and when he eventually fouled out, he had played just 26 scattered minutes, scored 10 points on 3-of-13 and was 1-of-7 from range. He was a frustrated man and Foxwell had a lot to do with it.

Unfortunately for Tatum, once Hurt decided this was going to be his game of retribution after his hollow form of Game 1, Sam Froling, Mason Peatling, Lachy Olbrich, Darius Days, Todd Blanchfield ... it didn't much matter. No-one could guard him on his way to 30 points at 57 per cent and 4-of-7 triples. 

Given more time than his Game 1 cameo, Glover was a relentless beast and worthy of every second of his 23:43, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal. 

Illawarra stayed in the hunt through William Hickey's constant efforts (19 points, six rebounds, four assists) and when Froling scored with 3:15 left, it was down 81-84 and very much alive.

Wieskamp, who had his shooting struggles back but contributed on the boards and defensively, nailed a big 3-pointer off a Sobey feed for 87-81, the Phoenix sensing victory.

A Hurt bucket had South East out of reach, a few minutes of drama to come but the series heading back to Wollongong on Wednesday.

NBL SEMI FINALS (1v4) ILLAWARRA HAWKS v SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX

Game 1 - Illawarra Hawks 101 (Kell, Harvey 24, Blanchfield 16, Froling 10; Kell 10 rebs; Hickey 7 assts) d South East Melbourne Phoenix 94 (Wieskamp 22, Sobey 17, Walton 15, Hurt 10; Sobey 9 rebs; Walton 11 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. Crowd: 5,491 Illawarra leads best-of-three series 1-0

Game 2 - South East Melbourne Phoenix 101 (Hurt 30, Sobey 25, Glover 16, Foxwell 10; Hunter 9 rebs; Glover 5 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 94 (Hickey 19, Froling 11, Harvey 10; Kell 8 rebs; Kell 6 assts) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne. Crowd: 8,636 Series tied 1-1

Game 3 - Wednesday, March 5, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 7:30pm AEDT

NBL SEMI FINALS (2v3) MELBOURNE UNITED v PERTH WILDCATS

Game 1 - Melbourne United 105 (Goulding 41, Clark 22, White 13, Lee 10; White 10 rebs; Dellavedova 9 assts) d Perth Wildcats 93 (Pinder 24, Cotton, Doolittle 22; Pinder 11 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne. Crowd: 7,473. Melbourne leads best-of-three series 1-0

Game 2 - Perth Wildcats 96 (Windler 27, Cotton 18, Doolittle 17, Webster 13, Wagstaff 10; Doolittle, Windler 11 rebs; Doolittle 6 assts) d Melbourne United 89 (Goulding 15, White, Clark, Dellavedova 13, Lee 10; Dellavedova 8 rebs; Dellavedova 12 assts) at RAC Arena, Perth. Crowd: 12,961 Series tied 1-1

Game 3 - Tuesday, March 4, John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 7:30pm AEDT