How to watch & talking points: Sydney v Illawarra

29 Jan 2026

sydney kings

illawarra hawks

Red-hot Sydney hosts reigning champions Illawarra in a crucial Thursday night clash at Qudos Bank Arena.

Sydney Kings (1st) v Illawarra Hawks (7th)
Thursday, January 29, 7.30pm AEDT
Qudos Bank Arena

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Talking points

Eyes on second
With the Phoenix's loss to Perth, the Kings have their eyes on second spot and avoiding the play-in tournament.

They are considered the hottest team in the league at this point in time and a strong showing on Thursday night could further prove that point.

Led by Kendric Davis, who also has his eyes on an MVP trophy, this Sydney outfit is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous teams in the entire competition.

Five on, five off
Justin Tatum rolled out some unusual substitution patterns on Monday night, deciding to essentially run two different teams and sub five players off and five on.

He followed that up in the press conference by saying he has full faith in all 10 players and that he believes he has found a formula that works, so it will be interesting to see if that happens again in their must-win clash against Sydney

What they're saying

Kings forward Xavier Cooks on welcoming back teammate Matthew Dellavedova to the lineup:
"He's going to be another exciting piece to have out there.

"We've been doing some great things on the court but 'Delly', he definitely helps us out a bunch."

Hawks coach Justin Tatum on the strength of his second unit:
"My second unit is pretty much a starting five in anywhere in this league, that's the blessing we have when we start having healthy guys and guys start buying into where they can make their best impact at.

"In any game, both teams can start out well and those first five minutes doesn’t overly concern me as long as we find a way to keep a good pace, and set the tone, and we know the guys are going to start subbing in and keep it going."