2020 NBL Finals

The 2020 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2019–20 NBL season and the conclusion of the season. The semi-finals started on 28 February and finished on 5 March 2020, with the following Grand Final starting on 8 March 2020.

2020 NBL Finals
CountryAustralia
New Zealand
Dates28 February – 15 March 2020
Season2019–20
Teams4
Defending championsPerth Wildcats
ChampionsPerth Wildcats (10th title)
Runners-upSydney Kings
Semifinalists
Matches played9
Winning coachTrevor Gleeson
MVPBryce Cotton, Perth Wildcats
Attendance66,000 (7,333 per match)
Top scorerBryce Cotton
← 2019 2021 →

The Grand Final series was due to finish by 22 March 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic forced the series to finish on 15 March 2020. The Perth Wildcats were leading 2–1 over the Sydney Kings in the best-of-five series when the remaining games were cancelled, which led the NBL to award Perth the title.[1]

Format

The finals was played in February and March 2020 between the top four teams of the regular season, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and one best-of-five final series, where the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.[2]

Impact of the coronavirus pandemic

Prior to Game 2 of the Grand Final, the NBL announced that the remainder of the Grand Final series would be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with only players, essential personnel and friends and family would be permitted to attend the remaining games, and if any of the players involved were diagnosed with coronavirus, the Grand Final series would be immediately suspended.[3]

Following Game 3, the Sydney Kings informed the NBL that they did not wish to proceed with the remaining two games.

Subsequently, the NBL decided to cancel Games 4 and 5, with the Perth Wildcats leading the series 2–1,[4] and announced that the Wildcats had been declared champions.[5]

Qualification

Qualified teams
Team Date of
qualification		 Round of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Previous
appearance		 Previous best
performance
Sydney Kings 24 January 2020 17 15th 2019 Champions (2003, 2004, 2005)
Perth Wildcats 1 February 2020 18 34th 2019 Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019)
Cairns Taipans 8 February 2020 19 8th 2017 Runners-Up (2011, 2015)
Melbourne United 16 February 2020 20 4th 2019 Champions (2018)

Ladder
2019-20 NBL ladder
LadderInformation
Pos.Nat.NamePld.W.L.Last 5StreakHomeAwayForAgainstPts %Win %
1 Sydney Kings 28 20 8 4-1 W2 12-2 8-6 2642 2472 106.88% 71.43%
2 Perth Wildcats (RC) 28 19 9 4-1 W3 11-3 8-6 2529 2409 104.98% 67.86%
3 Cairns Taipans 28 16 12 3-2 L2 11-3 5-9 2587 2547 101.57% 57.14%
4 Melbourne United 28 15 13 4-1 W3 9-5 6-8 2638 2560 103.05% 53.57%
5 Brisbane Bullets 28 15 13 3-2 W1 10-4 5-9 2607 2557 101.96% 53.57%
6 NZ Breakers 28 15 13 4-1 W4 9-5 6-8 2514 2468 101.86% 53.57%
7 Adelaide 36ers 28 12 16 1-4 L2 8-6 4-10 2654 2768 95.88% 42.86%
8 SEM Phoenix (NT) 28 9 19 0-5 L8 6-8 3-11 2671 2761 96.74% 32.14%
9 Illawarra Hawks 28 5 23 0-5 L10 3-11 2-12 2354 2654 88.70% 17.86%
Total Rounds

20

Games per Team

28

Total Games

126

Legend
  • (NT) New Team
  • (RC) Reigning Champion
  • Updated: 16 February 2020[6]

Ladder progression
  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top four.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Adelaide 36ers –8445665564555577777
Brisbane Bullets 24554556777787654455
Cairns Taipans 77668877646444333333
Illawarra Hawks 65799998999999999999
Melbourne United 56886433433333445664
New Zealand Breakers ––977789888876866546
Perth Wildcats 42322322222222222222
South East Melbourne Phoenix 33233244355668788888
Sydney Kings 11111111111111111111

Seedings
  1. Sydney Kings
  2. Perth Wildcats
  3. Cairns Taipans
  4. Melbourne United

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.

Playoff Bracket
Semi-finals Grand final
            
1 Sydney Kings 86 80 89
4 Melbourne United 80 125 87
1 Sydney Kings 86 97 96 X X
2 Perth Wildcats 88 85 111 X X
2 Perth Wildcats 108 74 93
3 Cairns Taipans 107 85 82

Semi-finals series

(2) Perth Wildcats vs. (3) Cairns Taipans
28 February 2020
18:30
Perth Wildcats 108, Cairns Taipans 107 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 29–20, 16–34, 23–17, 25–22, Overtime: 15–14
Pts: Cotton 42
Rebs: Kay 9
Asts: Cotton, Kay 6		 Pts: Machado 32
Rebs: Oliver 18
Asts: Machado 9
Perth leads series, 1–0
RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia
Attendance: 10,858
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid, Nico Fernandes
1 March 2020
16:00
Cairns Taipans 85, Perth Wildcats 74
Scoring by quarter: 30–16, 17–15, 16–22, 22–21
Pts: Oliver 22
Rebs: Oliver 19
Asts: Machado 4		 Pts: Steindl 18
Rebs: Kay 10
Asts: Kay 4
Series tied 1–1
Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns, Queensland
Attendance: 5,188
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid, Nico Fernandes
5 March 2020
18:30
Perth Wildcats 93, Cairns Taipans 82
Scoring by quarter: 25–24, 27–20, 24–22, 17–16
Pts: White 26
Rebs: Kay 12
Asts: Cotton 8		 Pts: Oliver 20
Rebs: Oliver 8
Asts: Machado 6
Perth wins series, 2–1
RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia
Attendance: 10,215
Referees: Michael Aylen, Damien Lyons, Nico Fernandes

Regular season series

Cairns won 2–1 in the regular season series:

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (4) Melbourne United
29 February 2020
19:30
Sydney Kings 86, Melbourne United 80
Scoring by quarter: 16–20, 21–23, 23–26, 26–11
Pts: Tate 23
Rebs: Bogut 10
Asts: Ware 5		 Pts: Trimble 34
Rebs: Long 11
Asts: Trimble 5
Sydney leads series, 1–0
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, New South Wales
Attendance: 13,103
Referees: Michael Aylen, Damien Lyons, James Boyer
2 March 2020
19:30
Melbourne United 125, Sydney Kings 80
Scoring by quarter: 26–24, 32–7, 45–24, 22–25
Pts: Long 26
Rebs: Long 11
Asts: McCarron 5		 Pts: Tate 18
Rebs: Cooks 7
Asts: Louzada 2
Series tied 1–1
Melbourne Arena, Melbourne, Victoria
Attendance: 6,914
Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, James Boyer
5 March 2020
19:30
Sydney Kings 89, Melbourne United 87
Scoring by quarter: 24–22, 20–28, 23–18, 21–19
Pts: Tate 20
Rebs: Cooks 9
Asts: Lisch 4		 Pts: Goulding 19
Rebs: Long 9
Asts: Ili 5
Sydney wins series, 2–1
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, New South Wales
Attendance: 8,075
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid, James Boyer

Regular season series

Sydney won 3–1 in the regular season series:

Grand Final series

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (2) Perth Wildcats

Game 1
8 March 2020
5:00pm
Sydney Kings 86, Perth Wildcats 88
Scoring by quarter: 26–24, 23–28, 24–16, 13–20
Pts: Bogut 18
Rebs: Bogut 12
Asts: Ware 4		 Pts: Cotton 32
Rebs: Plumlee 7
Asts: Cotton, Norton 4
Perth leads series, 1–0
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, New South Wales
Attendance: 11,647
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, James Boyer

Game 2
13 March 2020
6:30pm
Perth Wildcats 85, Sydney Kings 97
Scoring by quarter: 27–31, 24–26, 22–19, 12–21
Pts: Cotton 27
Rebs: Plumlee 8
Asts: Cotton, Norton 3		 Pts: Tate 20
Rebs: Bogut 13
Asts: Newley 5
Series tied 1–1
RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia
Attendance: closed event
Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid

Game 3
15 March 2020
5:00pm
Sydney Kings 96, Perth Wildcats 111
Scoring by quarter: 18–29, 28–27, 24–28, 26–27
Pts: Tate 20
Rebs: Cooks 9
Asts: Bogut, Bruce 3		 Pts: Cotton 31
Rebs: Kay 12
Asts: Cotton 7
Perth leads series, 2–1
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, New South Wales
Attendance: closed event
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, Chris Reid

Games 4 and 5

Games 4 and 5 were cancelled and the Perth Wildcats declared champions after the Sydney Kings indicated they did not wish to proceed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5]

See also

References
  1. Ward, Roy (19 March 2020). "Bogut hits out at NBL decision to award title to Perth". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. "Schedule for Hungry Jack's NBL Finals Presented by MG | NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  3. Ward, Roy (13 March 2020). "NBL grand final series to be completed behind closed doors". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  4. "Remaining NBL Grand Final Series Games Cancelled | NBL". nbl.com.au. NBL. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. "Perth Wildcats Crowned NBL20 Champions | NBL". nbl.com.au.
  6. "2019–20 NBL Ladder | NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.