Hawks coach Gordie McLeod has warned his players that getting into the top four will be a "dogfight".
Hawks coach Gordie McLeod has warned his players to be prepared for a "dogfight" as competition for an NBL finals berth approaches a crescendo.
The Hawks only managed a split of their weekend double, but other results fell in their favour.
Cairns aided Wollongong's cause by beating Sydney on Friday and losing to Adelaide on Saturday, and Perth played their part with Sunday's win over Melbourne.
The Tigers kept hold of third spot but face a tough away game against Perth on Thursday.
And though Sydney are clinging to a share of fourth spot with Wollongong, the slumping Kings host the Wildcats on Sunday.
Wollongong take on last-placed Adelaide at home on Friday and finish the season with a relatively friendly run home against Melbourne (away), Townsville (away), Sydney (home) and Adelaide again (home).
Melbourne have the most challenging schedule with games against Perth, New Zealand (twice), Wollongong, Cairns and Townsville (twice).
"It's all about us trying to finish off the season the best way we can, and the best way is to beat teams. If we do that, other things will take care of themselves," McLeod said of his side's top four prospects.
"At the moment there are probably six teams that on any night can beat each other.
"We're in a dogfight with those guys to get that top-four position, so it's irrelevant where they sit on the table. The relevance is that they are all capable of beating each other."
The fight for the final two positions in the top four will almost certainly go down to the wire.
"Every game's going to be tough - no-one's going to give one to us," import Adris Deleon said.
"Everybody's going to come out and try to beat us, so we have to take care of our home court and try and steal a couple on the road."
If teams finish with the same win-loss records, final-ladder standings will be determined by results between those particular teams during the regular season.
Wollongong hold a 2-0 edge over Adelaide and a 2-1 advantage over Townsville, but trail Melbourne and Sydney 2-1.
"To get another game up on them in the series, that's what it's about for us," McLeod said after Sunday's 24-point rout of the Crocodiles.
"It's important for us to win that by as many as we could because we have to go back and play them on their court and that could be a big difference."