Basketball On The Internet.

MELBOURNE United tonight "broke serve" in the opening best-of-five Grand Finals of the NBL's Championship Series when Marcus Lee stepped up as the X-factor in a stunning second half revival and 96-88 road win over a startled and bedraggled regular season champion Illawarra. 

The Hawks looked a million dollars through the first half but turned into loose change after the interval, United coach Dean Vickerman orchestrating one of the great comeback wins of recent memory.

Down 43-53 at the main break and Illawarra in the driver's seat, considering its backcourt studs only needed to step up to lock this win away, instead it was Melbourne with all the answers.

It erased the deficit in the seeming blink of an eye, Shea Ili, Chris Goulding and Ian Clark leading a 6-0 start to the third that quickly turned this back into a contest.

In reality, Illawarra could have been further ahead at halftime but missed some reasonably open and gettable looks. Goulding was being contained, Rob Loe losing his cool but the Hawks did not fully capitalise and paid the price for it.

Plus trump card Sam Froling, who was dominant early, was on the sidelines at key times and never again used as effectively by the Hawks, playing 25 minutes for his team-leading 16 points.

Worse, Illawarra's superstar backcourt import duo Tyler Harvey (9 points, 4-of-10 FGs, 1-of-6 threes) and Trey Kell (6 points, 3-of-11, 0-of-3) did not improve at all in the second half.

If anything, Harvey and Kell turned into magicians Penn and Teller, with a disappearing act that would sell out at Las Vegas.

Hardening up defensively, Melbourne reduced Illawarra into its own version of hero ball and Vickerman added his own masterstroke by defending William Hickey with the 211cm Lee.

Lee killed at the offensive end, throwing down his trademark slams off lobs to compile 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes. He also grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, and just for the hell of it, blocked two shots and even had a steal.

But the genius of the move was it made Hickey use his speed against the big man and while he finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and two steals in 19 energetic minutes, the Hawks went a number of offences with no-one else handling the ball.

When Todd Blanchfield - who has been shooting out the lights - hit the floor in the first half, he picked up exactly where he left off against the Phoenix, compiling a rapidfire 11 points.

But under greater pressure in the second, he found himself pulling up and shooting that god-awful one-handed piece of poop and his accuracy and confidence went down the gurgler. Shoot your J mate.

Matthew Dellavedova (18 points) was making better decisions and Goulding banged in a couple of threes no-one else in the NBL could have converted, such was the Hawks' pressure on him.

Despite again losing faith in himself from the free throw line, Jack White had 9 and 9, Clark found his range when it was needed and Tanner Krebs was another for whom the Hawks had no answers.

After surrendering a 53-point first half, Melbourne held Illawarra to 14 in the third and 21 in the last - a 35-point half - while rattling on 32 of its own in the final quarter alone. 

This was a masterclass in professional execution. And not an influential referee call in sight.

NBL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SCHEDULE (Best-of-Five Grand Finals)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS v MELBOURNE UNITED

Game 1: Melbourne United 96 (Dellavedova 18, Goulding 15, Lee 14, Ili, Lee 15 rebs; Clark, Goulding, Ili 4 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 88 (Froling 16, Hickey 14, Blanchfield 13, Swaka Lo Buluk 11; Hickey, Froling 7 rebs; Hickey 8 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. Crowd: 5,491 Melbourne leads series 1-0

Game 2: Wednesday, March 12, John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 7:30pm AEDT

Game 3: Sunday, March 16, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 5:30pm AEDT

Game 4 (if required): Wednesday, March 19, John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 7:30pm AEDT

Game 5 (if required): Sunday, March 23, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 2:30pm AEDT