2017 NBL Finals

The 2017 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2016–17 NBL season and the conclusion of the season. Perth Wildcats defeated Illawarra Hawks in three games (3-0) to claim their eighth NBL championship.

2017 NBL Finals

Tournament details
Country	Australia New Zealand
Dates	16 February – 5 March 2017
Season	2016–17
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	Perth Wildcats (8thth title)
Runner-up	Illawarra Hawks
Semifinalists	Adelaide 36ers Cairns Taipans

Format

The 2016–17 National Basketball League Finals were played in February and March 2017 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 hosted the first, third and fifth games.

Qualification

Qualified teams

Team	Date of qualification	Round of qualification	Finals appearance	Previous appearance	Previous best performance
Adelaide 36ers	21 January 2017	16	24th	2015	Champions (1986, 1998, 1999, 2002)
Illawarra Hawks	11 February 2017	19	20th	2016	Champions (2001)
Cairns Taipans	11 February 2017	19	6th	2015	Runners-up (2011, 2015)
Perth Wildcats	12 February 2017	19	31st	2016	Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016)

Ladder

Pos	2016–17 NBL season
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Adelaide 36ers	28	17	11	60.71%	1–4	L4	9–5	8–6	2582	2505	103.07%
2	Cairns Taipans1	28	15	13	53.57%	4–1	W3	10–4	5–9	2305	2301	100.17%
3	Perth Wildcats1	28	15	13	53.57%	4–1	W2	10–4	5–9	2294	2257	101.64%
4	Illawarra Hawks1	28	15	13	53.57%	3–2	W1	9–5	6–8	2486	2444	101.72%
5	New Zealand Breakers	28	14	14	50.00%	3–2	W2	9–5	5–9	2353	2387	98.58%
6	Melbourne United2	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	L2	9–5	4–10	2351	2337	100.60%
7	Sydney Kings2	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	L2	7–7	6–8	2295	2311	99.31%
8	Brisbane Bullets	28	10	18	35.71%	1–4	L4	6–8	4–10	2268	2392	94.82%

Updated to match(es) played on 12 February 2017. 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.

2016–17 NBL season
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Adelaide 36ers	5	6	4	4	6	7	8	7	5	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Brisbane Bullets	2	2	3	3	5	4	2	3	2	6	4	7	5	6	8	8	8	8	8
Cairns Taipans	8	8	8	7	4	6	6	6	4	8	6	6	8	7	7	7	4	5	2
Illawarra Hawks	1	7	7	8	7	5	5	4	3	3	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	4
Melbourne United	7	4	5	5	8	8	7	8	6	5	8	4	2	4	3	4	7	3	6
New Zealand Breakers	3	5	6	6	3	3	4	5	8	7	5	5	7	8	6	3	6	7	5
Perth Wildcats	4	3	2	2	2	2	3	2	7	4	7	8	6	2	5	5	5	4	3
Sydney Kings	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	4	5	4	6	3	6	7

Seedings

1. Adelaide 36ers
2. Cairns Taipans
3. Perth Wildcats
4. Illawarra Hawks

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 results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

Bracket

	Semifinals							Grand Final
	1	Adelaide 36ers	93	94	98
	4	Illawarra Hawks	78	100	106
								3	Perth Wildcats	89	89	95	X	X
								4	Illawarra Hawks	77	77	86	X	X
	2	Cairns Taipans	69	66	X
	3	Perth Wildcats	91	74	X

Semi-finals series

(1) Adelaide 36ers vs (4) Illawarra Hawks

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

16 February 2017	Adelaide 36ers	93–78 (Series: Adelaide leads series, 1–0)	Illawarra Hawks	Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide
7:00pm CDT	Scoring by quarter: 24-27, 28-15, 21-23, 20-13
Fox Sports	Pts: Jerome Randle 26 Rebs: Matt Hodgson 11 Asts: Jerome Randle 4	boxscore report	Pts: Tim Coenraad 26 Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 9 Asts: Nick Kay 4	Attendance: 5,056 Referees: Michael Aylen, Matt Townsend, Matt Beattie

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

19 February 2017	Illawarra Hawks	100–94 (Series: Series tied, 1–1)	Adelaide 36ers	WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
3:00pm EDT	Scoring by quarter: 28-22, 26-27, 25-29, 21-16
Fox Sports	Pts: Mitch Norton 17 Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 11 Asts: Nick Kay 5	boxscore report	Pts: Jerome Randle 20 Rebs: Matt Hodgson 8 Asts: Jerome Randle 7	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Matt Beattie

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

23 February 2017	Adelaide 36ers	98–106 (Series: Illawarra wins series, 2–1)	Illawarra Hawks	Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide
7:00pm CDT	Scoring by quarter: 18-27, 24-29, 22-26, 34-24
Fox Sports	Pts: Jerome Randle 26 Rebs: Brendan Teys 8 Asts: Jerome Randle 6	boxscore report	Pts: Rotnei Clarke 20 Rebs: Oscar Forman 6 Asts: Rhys Martin 4	Attendance: TBA Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid

Regular season series

Illawarra won 3–1 in the regular season series:

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

7 October 2016	Illawarra Hawks	122–88	Adelaide 36ers	WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

12 November 2016	Adelaide 36ers	74–85	Illawarra Hawks	Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

5 January 2017	Adelaide 36ers	117–85	Illawarra Hawks	Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

28 January 2017	Illawarra Hawks	95–92	Adelaide 36ers	WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

(2) Cairns Taipans vs (3) Perth Wildcats

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

17 February 2017	Cairns Taipans	69–91 (Series: Perth leads series, 1–0)	Perth Wildcats	Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns
6:30pm EST	Scoring by quarter: 21-31, 16-17, 20-22, 12-21
Fox Sports	Pts: Travis Trice 15 Rebs: Mitch McCarron 7 Asts: Cameron Gliddon 5	boxscore report	Pts: Bryce Cotton 34 Rebs: Matthew Knight 6 Asts: Bryce Cotton 5	Attendance: 5,200 Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid, Brett Hogan

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

20 February 2017	Perth Wildcats	74–66 (Series: Perth wins series, 2–0)	Cairns Taipans	Perth Arena, Perth
6:30pm WST	Scoring by quarter: 16-8, 21-14, 15-22, 22-22
Fox Sports	Pts: Casey Prather 24 Rebs: Casey Prather 10 Asts: Bryce Cotton 4	boxscore report	Pts: Travis Trice 22 Rebs: Cameron Gliddon 8 Asts: Travis Trice 5	Attendance: 10,993 Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid

Regular season series

Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 323-317 points differential to Perth:

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

8 October 2016	Perth Wildcats	84–74 (OT)	Cairns Taipans	Perth Arena, Perth

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

16 January 2017	Cairns Taipans	80–78	Perth Wildcats	Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

20 January 2017	Perth Wildcats	84–78 (OT)	Cairns Taipans	Perth Arena, Perth

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

5 February 2017	Cairns Taipans	85–77	Perth Wildcats	Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns

Grand Final series

(3) Perth Wildcats vs (4) Illawarra Hawks

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

26 February 2017	Perth Wildcats	89–77 (Series: Perth leads series, 1–0)	Illawarra Hawks	Perth Arena, Perth
4:00pm WST	Scoring by quarter: 21-26, 21-16, 26-20, 21-15
Fox Sports	Pts: Casey Prather 22 Rebs: Matthew Knight 11 Asts: Martin, Prather 5	boxscore report	Pts: Cody Ellis 12 Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 6 Asts: Rotnei Clarke 6	Attendance: 10,828 Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Matt Beattie

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

1 March 2017	Illawarra Hawks	77–89 (Series: Perth leads series, 2–0)	Perth Wildcats	WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
7:30pm EDT	Scoring by quarter: 24-18, 21-22, 14-23, 18-26
Fox Sports	Pts: Clarke, Ogilvy 21 Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 10 Asts: Nick Kay 5	boxscore report	Pts: Bryce Cotton 20 Rebs: Angus Brandt 11 Asts: Martin, Prather 6	Attendance: TBA Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

5 March 2017	Perth Wildcats	95–86 (Series: Perth wins series, 3-0)	Illawarra Hawks	Perth Arena, Perth
12:00pm WST	Scoring by quarter: 26-17, 20-24, 25-22, 24-23
Fox Sports	Pts: Bryce Cotton 45 Rebs: Brandt, McKay 7 Asts: Brandt, Prather 4		Pts: Rotnei Clarke 30 Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 7 Asts: Kay, Norton 3	Attendance: 13,611 Referees: Michael Aylen, Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid

Regular season series

Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 336-330 points differential to Perth:

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

21 October 2016	Perth Wildcats	80–73	Illawarra Hawks	Perth Arena, Perth

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

28 October 2016	Illawarra Hawks	81–76	Perth Wildcats	WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

27 November 2016	Perth Wildcats	85–89	Illawarra Hawks	Perth Arena, Perth

{{{teamA}}} v {{{teamB}}}

31 December 2016	Illawarra Hawks	87–95	Perth Wildcats	WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

See also

• 2016–17 NBL season