It's always disappointing to walk away empty handed in overtime.
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But there's a lot to take out of the loss to the Kings before the final push for playoffs.
The way we clawed our way back into the game and showed the depth in our rotations, with Emmett Naar, Isaac White, Max Darling and Deng Deng all playing key roles, is very encouraging.
These guys played bigger minutes and Max and Deng got the rebounds we needed and defended well, Emmett took control from the point and made shots.
These are all important roles as the Hawks manage our injuries and stay in touch with the top four.
We'd done some work on Emmett running the point in the build-up to the Kings game, so there wasn't a lot of adjustment needed on court.
It shows the belief we have in the young guys in the squad, how they were able to help drag us back into the game.
It also shows how we are able to change the tempo when we need to.
It's nice to have a bit of breathing room this week, given the hectic schedules we've had this season.
It's an eight-day break before playing New Zealand in Tasmania and then another eight days until the Adelaide game at home.
It shows the belief we have in the young guys in the squad, how they were able to help drag us back into the game
After that, it's a jam-packed run to the end of the season, though thankfully we'll spend most of that time in Wollongong. One of the most important parts about our schedule is we have three of our remaining 10 games against New Zealand.
So it'll be important to arrive in Tasmania and be ready to take it to them, so they know we'll fight all the way for the rest of the season.
We beat them back (102-88) in February, but they're a much different looking group since then.
They've also found some great form, as they showed in Monday night's 93-77 win over Adelaide, with Finn Delany, Levi Randolph and of course Tom Abercrombie and Corey Webster making them a really tough team to beat.
I've heard some of the talk about low shooting percentages on the Tasmanian court at Launceston, but it's not something we've spoken about as a group.
If you do, you can will it into existence and it can undermine your confidence.
We'll go there to play our way again and back ourselves to make our shots.
Like in the Kings game, we'll adjust if we need to from there.
But we do know we have to make our last three games on the road count and then come home with a wet sail, by stringing wins together at WIN Entertainment Centre.
THE RUN HOME
Hawks remaining NBL schedule
Monday v NEW ZEALAND at Silverdome, Tasmania
Tuesday, May 11 v ADELAIDE at WIN Entertainment Centre
Saturday, May 15 v NEW ZEALAND at WIN Entertainment Centre
Tuesday, May 18 v MELBOURNE UNITED at WIN Entertainment Centre
Friday, May 21 v ADELAIDE at Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Sunday, May 23 v CAIRNS at WIN Entertainment Centre
Friday, May 28 v NEW ZEALAND (venue TBC)
Sunday, May 30 v ADELAIDE at WIN Entertainment Centre
Tuesday, June 1 v PERTH at WIN Entertainment Centre
Thursday, June 3 v SYDNEY at WIN Entertainment Centre
Ladder: MELBOURNE 19-5, PERTH 18-6, SYDNEY 14-12, SOUTH-EAST MELBOURNE 14-12, Illawarra 12-14, Brisbane 10-13, Adelaide 10-16, New Zealand 8-16, Cairns 7-19.
