It’s why Hawks coach Rob Beveridge believes the pressure is firmly on his opposition heading into this Thursday’s deciding match in Adelaide.

The 36ers had the chance to book their passage to the big dance in Wollongong on Sunday afternoon, but couldn’t finish off a determined Hawks outfit who kept their own title hopes alive with a 100-94 win.

Now both clubs will get the same opportunity on Adelaide’s home floor in a match that Beveridge feels his men have nothing to lose.

"I think there is a lot of pressure on them because they are the number one team," the experienced coach said.

"They are on their home court.

"They were talking weeks ago that Adelaide won the Championship.

"That's the way it is.

"They are a great ball club. They are very well coached, they have competitors, they have got every position filled.

"They have rebounders and role players. Everything that I look for in a team, they have got that ticked so I know they are a hell of a team."

The 36ers have already put the pressure on themselves this series by throwing a number of jibes in the Hawks’ direction before the playoffs even began.

Star guard Jerome Randle labelled the Hawks a ‘dirty’ team while captain Mitch Creek said Adelaide were a ‘far superior team’. 

Speaking after their game two win, Beveridge took a vastly different approach when discussing his opposition. 

"We respect them so much,” he said.

"We aren't going to go in with any of this hatred rubbish at all. It is respect. [We have] no fear, it's just respect everything about them.

"They are probably going to have more pressure on them than us because the expectation is that Adelaide will win on Thursday."

Beveridge, who has coached Illawarra to back-to-back playoff appearances, was adamant the Hawks can’t allow the 36ers to play their high tempo style of basketball if his team are to walk away from Adelaide with a win. 

“They are the best team when they run,” he said.

“When they rip it off the ring and they ram it down your throat, there are not many better teams than Adelaide that I have seen in a long, long time. We play an up tempo style, but they are even at a higher level than what we are so we actually need to almost go away from us playing that up tempo game.

“Although we scored 100 points [on Sunday], it is quite ironic, we are trying to slow it down a lot because I know they are that good. We [Nathan] Sobey is on the ring, when [Mitch] Creek is on the ring. We had some lapses [on Sunday] but it wasn’t as bad as it was in Adelaide.”

Game Three

Adelaide 36ers v Illawarra Hawks

Titanium Security Arena, (Thursday, 7.30pm)