On paper, Illawarra's final-round NBL equation should look straightforward: beat the last-placed team on your own court to cement your spot in the playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, that theory doesn't take into account the ridiculously close nature of the 2016-17 NBL season.
If Brisbane win on Saturday, they will become the first team this century to win more than 10 games in a season and still run last.
"You normally have teams winning only five or six games down the bottom," Hawks coach Rob Beveridge said.
"But Brisbane were still in it a couple of weeks ago. That's how close it is."
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Regardless, the Hawks control their own destiny more than any other team in a thrilling final round of the competition as six teams vie for the final three playoff spots.
If they win, they're through. Lose, and they face the prospect of having to go through a head-to-head tie-breaker as a countback.
Beveridge maintains the Hawks have always been at their best when they feel have to win.
It was evident on Monday night, he says, when the Hawks blew a golden opportunity to beat Melbourne and put themselves out of harm's way with a week to play. Instead, they lost 78-72.
"We win games through our work and energy and we simply didn't do that against Melbourne," he said.
"They were desperate, they rebounded, they got on the loose ball, we didn't."
However he's expecting no such complacency on Saturday night.
"If we get outworked by Brisbane, that's alarm bells," he said.
"If we can't beat Brisbane with our backs to the wall and we're super desperate and we know what the equation is, then we probably don't deserve to be in the finals."
The Hawks have beaten Brisbane in their three other meetings this summer, with import Rotnei Clark starring at an average of almost 19 points per game against the Bullets.
But Beveridge believes it will be a different Brisbane side that fronts on Saturday night.
"They're definitely coming at us, I know that," he said.
"They can come down and take some risks. There is an expectation that a lot of people think we are going to win because we are on our home court. I'm not stupid enough to buy into that."
In Saturday's other game Cairns can confirm their finals spot against Adelaide, after they beat the 36ers 89-85 on Thursday.
