Feb 23rd, 2017

Mitch Norton, Rotnei Clarke and Kevin White celebrate the win. (Getty Images)

Feb 23rd, 2017

The Illawarra Hawks have survived a late scare to book their first NBL grand final in seven years after defeating the Adelaide 36ers 106-98 in Thursday night's semi-final decider.

Comfortably ahead by 21 points midway through the last quarter, the Hawks had their lead whittled to just five points, as the Sixers produced a remarkable 19-3 run in three-and-a-half minutes.

Rotnei Clarke (20 points) buried the regular-season champions with a huge three-pointer - his fourth - and an amazing long pass to Rhys Martin for another three.

Jerome Randle (26 points) played his heart out and, supported by Nathan Sobey (22), shook off a lacklustre first half to instigate the valiant fightback.

After a hesitant start, the Hawks found their groove from the perimeter, knocking down five three-pointers in the opening term.

Experienced guard Martin came off the bench and sparked an 11-0 burst that propelled Illawarra to a 27-18 quarter-time buffer, which the Hawks built on in the second, largely through Americans Marvelle Harris and Clarke.

Randle nailed a three-pointer on the halftime buzzer to cut the margin to 56-42 at the long break and the Sixers carried that momentum into the third stanza, closing to within six points on a Sobey trey.

Adelaide hit a hurdle when Anthony Drmic was thrown out of the game after his second technical foul for flopping and Illawarra pounced, moving ahead 82-64 at three-quarter-time.

The difference swelled to 95-74 before the 36ers mounted their gutsy comeback that fell short, the Sixers closing the season disappointingly, with six defeats from seven matches, unable to recapture their mid-season magic.

Meanwhile, the only sour point for grand-final bound Illawarra was a left foot injury to centre AJ Ogilvy, who hobbled off in the second quarter.

Game one of the grand final series is on Sunday at the Perth Arena.

Hawks coach Rob Beveridge described the series-clinching triumph as magical and one of the biggest in his life.

"The way we executed our game plan was simply outstanding," he said.

"You lose your main focal point, AJ, and we've had to improvise as we've gone along.

"Our ability to slow them down and play at a better pace for us was just magical.

"It's one of the biggest wins I've ever had in my life."

36ers coach Joey Wright felt his side were below par defensively in the opening term, which allowed Illawarra to seize control from outside.

"Early on, our defensive intensity wasn't there - we gave them too many open looks," he lamented.

"You saw what we were capable of once we turned up the defensive intensity (in the fourth quarter).

"That's the level we needed to play at for the game.

"They definitely took us out of the game."

©AAP2017