Melbourne United have dug their way out of a 16-point fourth-quarter hole to steamroll Illawarra 115-106 in overtime in game one of their best-of-three play-off series.
Struggling to capture their best form after an 18-day break, the hosts finally clicked down the stretch at John Cain Arena on Thursday night to outscore the Hawks 23-7 in the last seven minutes of regulation and 15-6 in the extension.
Matthew Dellavedova (30 points, 10 assists) was masterful all evening at both ends, single-handedly carrying Melbourne through their mid-match malaise before being joined by Luke Travers (24 points, eight rebounds) down the stretch.
Big Sam Froling (26 points) and import Gary Clark (22 points, 12 boards) paced Illawarra, who had forged their way into an impregnable position before being mowed down by United.
United captain Chris Goulding's layup with four seconds left in the final term on the back of Dellavedova's steal of Kyle Adnam's inbound neutralised Will Hickey's tough bank moments earlier and forced the extension, in which Travers was unstoppable, with nine points.
"We were really poor defensively," Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said.
"We got out of jail a little bit but we played the right way to get back into the game.
"Some massive plays down the stretch
"Dell was crazy ... certainly the best game he's ever played for this club."
Froling and Clark did as they pleased early to push the Hawks to a 29-25 quarter-time buffer.
Dellavedova's solo vigil in the second stanza momentarily handed the impetus back to United, who moved ahead 54-47 before suffering a prolonged struggle.
NBL legend and television commentator Derek Rucker described Melbourne's offence as "disgusting" as they were outscored 13-0 either side of the main break.
Illawarra import Tyler Harvey, silenced by Dellavedova and Shea Ili in the first two terms, finally got going after halftime and his long bomb stretched the visitors' cushion to 93-77 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Melbourne flicked a switch, finally knuckling down defensively, controlling the tempo and going on a tear at the other end which left the Hawks shell-shocked.
"They played with a sense of urgency the last seven minutes, which threw us off," Illawarra coach Justin Tatum said.
"Them being at home, turning up that tempo a little bit, that pressure and their experience ... they got away from us."
Game 2 is in Wollongong on Sunday.
