2021 NBL Finals

Tournament statisticsMatches played9Attendance48,420 (5,380 per match)Scoring leader(s)Chris Goulding (Melbourne)MVPJock Landale (Melbourne)
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The 2021 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2020–21 NBL season and the conclusion of the season.

Format

The finals are being played in June 2021 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.[1]

Qualification

Qualified teams

Team Date of
qualification 		Round of
qualification 		Finals
appearance 		Previous
appearance 		Previous best
performance 		Ref.
Melbourne United 13 May 2021 18 26th 2020 Champions (1993, 1997, 2006, 2008, 2018) [2]
Perth Wildcats 15 May 2021 18 35th 2020 Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) [3]
Illawarra Hawks 1 June 2021 21 21st 2017 Champions (2001) [4]
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 8 June 2021 21 1st N/A [5]

Ladder

Pos 2020–21 NBL season
  • v
  • t
  • e
Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP
1 Melbourne United 36 28 8 77.78% 4–1 W3 14–4 14–4 3189 2956 107.88%
2 Perth Wildcats 36 25 11 69.44% 3–2 L2 13–5 12–6 3133 2900 108.03%
3 Illawarra Hawks 36 20 16 55.56% 4–1 L1 11–7 9–9 2962 2954 100.27%
4 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 36 19 17 52.78% 2–3 L1 9–9 10–8 3217 3124 102.98%
5 Sydney Kings 36 19 17 52.78% 4–1 W3 11–7 8–10 3112 3087 100.81%
6 Brisbane Bullets 36 18 18 50.00% 4–1 W1 9–9 9–9 3204 3274 97.86%
7 Adelaide 36ers 36 13 23 36.11% 0–5 L7 10–8 3–15 2985 3156 94.58%
8 New Zealand Breakers 36 12 24 33.33% 2–3 L1 8–10 4–14 2937 3021 97.22%
9 Cairns Taipans 36 8 28 22.22% 1–4 L2 6–12 2–16 2940 3207 91.67%

Updated to match(es) played on 9 June 2021. Source: NBL.com.au

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.
2020–21 NBL season
  • v
  • t
  • e
Team 1 2 3 4 5 NBL Cup 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
6 7 8 9
Adelaide 36ers 3 5 3 3 3 4 6 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Brisbane Bullets 6 9 5 6 6 7 5 4 5 5 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Cairns Taipans 4 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Illawarra Hawks 2 3 1 2 2 2 4 3 3 4 3 5 4 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3
Melbourne United 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
New Zealand Breakers – 8 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Perth Wildcats – 2 4 7 7 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 7 6 6 4 4 5 3 7 4 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 4
Sydney Kings 5 4 7 5 5 6 7 6 6 6 5 4 6 4 3 3 3 5 5 5 5

Seedings

  1. Melbourne United
  2. Perth Wildcats
  3. Illawarra Hawks
  4. South East Melbourne Phoenix

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

Semifinals Grand Final
            
1 Melbourne United 96 79 84
4 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 78 90 74
1 Melbourne United 73 83 81 X X
2 Perth Wildcats 70 74 76 X X
2 Perth Wildcats 72 75 79
3 Illawarra Hawks 74 71 71


Semi-finals series

(2) Perth Wildcats vs. (3) Illawarra Hawks

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
10 June 2021 Perth Wildcats 72–74
(Series: Illawarra leads series, 1–0) 		Illawarra Hawks RAC Arena, Perth
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 22–16, 17–17, 17–19, 16–22
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Blanchfield 24
Rebs: Mooney 16
Asts: Bairstow, Norton 3 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Jessup 17
Rebs: Simon 9
Asts: Naar 5 		Attendance: 7,662
Referees: Michael Aylen, Mitch Hare, Ruben Woolcock
{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
12 June 2021 Illawarra Hawks 71–79
(Series: Series tied, 1–1) 		Perth Wildcats WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
17:30 Scoring by quarter: 13–16, 18–12, 22–32, 18–19
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Harvey 24
Rebs: Froling 6
Asts: Simon 5 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Mooney 18
Rebs: Travers 10
Asts: White 6 		Attendance: 5,217
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Damian Lyons, Mitch Hare
{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
14 June 2021 Perth Wildcats 79–71
(Series: Perth wins series, 2–1) 		Illawarra Hawks RAC Arena, Perth
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 23–15, 23–17, 9–19, 24–20
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Blanchfield 24
Rebs: Mooney 14
Asts: Travers 4 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Froling 14
Rebs: Simon 11
Asts: Simon 4 		Attendance: 8,986
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Mitch Hare, James Griguol
Regular season series
Perth won 3–1 in the regular season series
26 March 2021
boxscore
Perth Wildcats 81, Illawarra Hawks 70
16 April 2021
boxscore
Perth Wildcats 83, Illawarra Hawks 69

(1) Melbourne United vs. (4) South East Melbourne Phoenix

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
11 June 2021 Melbourne United 96–78
(Series: Melbourne leads series, 1–0) 		South East Melbourne Phoenix Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 26–20, 32–18, 27–16, 11–24
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Landale 26
Rebs: Peatling 6
Asts: McCarron 5 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Moore 17
Rebs: Broekhoff, Wetzell 7
Asts: Creek 6 		Attendance: 500
Referees: Chris Reid, Daniel Battye, James Griguol
{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
13 June 2021 South East Melbourne Phoenix 90–79
(Series: Series tied, 1–1) 		Melbourne United Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
15:00 Scoring by quarter: 26–28, 20–22, 20–20, 24–9
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Creek, Sykes 26
Rebs: Wetzell 8
Asts: Sykes 4 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Hopson 19
Rebs: Lual-Acuil, Peatling 7
Asts: McCarron 5 		Attendance: 500
Referees: Chris Reid, Damian Lyons, Ruben Woolcock
{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
15 June 2021 Melbourne United 84–74
(Series: Melbourne wins series, 2–1) 		South East Melbourne Phoenix Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 14–24, 26–21, 18–12, 26–17
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Landale 27
Rebs: Landale, McCarron 8
Asts: McCarron 6 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Te Rangi 22
Rebs: Creek 9
Asts: Sykes 4 		Attendance: 500
Referees: Chris Reid, Damian Lyons, Daniel Battye
Regular season series
Melbourne won 3–2 in the regular season series

Grand Final series

(1) Melbourne United vs. (2) Perth Wildcats

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
18 June 2021 Perth Wildcats 70–73
(Series: Melbourne leads series, 1–0) 		Melbourne United RAC Arena, Perth
18:30 Scoring by quarter: 19–18, 16–13, 18–29, 17–13
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Blanchfield 27
Rebs: Blanchfield, Mooney 7
Asts: Mooney 4 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Goulding 23
Rebs: McCarron 11
Asts: McCarron 6 		Attendance: 9,951
Referees: Chris Reid, Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen
{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
20 June 2021 Perth Wildcats 74–83
(Series: Melbourne leads series, 2–0) 		Melbourne United RAC Arena, Perth
15:00 Scoring by quarter: 28–18, 14–24, 15–20, 17–21
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Mooney 17
Rebs: Mooney 9
Asts: Mooney, Shervill 3 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Goulding 21
Rebs: Landale 17
Asts: McCarron 7 		Attendance: 11,097
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid, Michael Aylen
{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}
25 June 2021 Melbourne United 81–76
(Series: Melbourne wins series and the Championship, 3–0) 		Perth Wildcats John Cain Arena, Melbourne
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 30–19, 12–18, 16–13, 23–24
ESPN, SBS Viceland Pts: Landale 15
Rebs: Landale 9
Asts: McCarron 5 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Mooney, White 14
Rebs: Mooney 13
Asts: Norton 3 		Attendance: 4,507
Referees: Chris Reid, Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen
Regular season series
Melbourne won 3–2 in the regular season series
7 February 2021
boxscore
Melbourne United 75, Perth Wildcats 71
20 February 2021
boxscore
Melbourne United 85, Perth Wildcats 89
13 May 2021
boxscore
Perth Wildcats 91, Melbourne United 99
4 June 2021
boxscore
Perth Wildcats 64, Melbourne United 78

See also

References

  1. ^ "Schedule for Hungry Jack's NBL Finals | NBL". nbl.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Time to Unite: Melbourne United clinch finals berth". MelbourneUTD.com.au. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Wildcats clinch 35th consecutive NBL Finals berth". Wildcats.com.au. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Hawks take down Wildcats to surge into playoffs". Hawks.com.au. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Phoenix Finish Regular Season in Fourth Place". SEMPhoenix.com.au. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.