2023 NBL Finals

2023 NBL Finals
Countries	Australia; New Zealand
Dates	9 February – 15 March
Season	2022–23
Teams	6
Defending champions	Sydney Kings
MVP	Derrick Walton (Sydney)
Semifinalists	Cairns Taipans; Tasmania JackJumpers
Matches played	14
Attendance	114,653 (8,190 per match)
Scoring leader	Barry Brown Jr. 18.4
	All statistics correct as of 15 March 2023.

The 2023 NBL Finals was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball League's 2022–23 season.

Format

The finals will be played in February and March 2023 between the top six teams of the regular season, consisting of three play-in games, two best-of-three semifinal series and the best-of-five Grand Final series, where the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.^[1]^[2]

The top two seeds in the regular season will automatically qualify to the semifinals. Teams ranked three to six will compete in the play-in tournament.^[3] The third seed will play the fourth seed for third spot and the loser will play the winner of fifth or sixth for the fourth seed.^[4] This will be the first season the league will introduce play-in games.^[5]

Qualification

Qualified teams

Team	Date of qualification	Round of qualification	Finals appearance	Previous appearance	Previous best performance	Ref.
Sydney Kings	16 January 2023	15	17th	2022	Champions (2003, 2004, 2005, 2022)	^[6]
New Zealand Breakers	28 January 2023	17	9th	2018	Champions (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)	^[7]
Cairns Taipans	28 January 2023	17	9th	2020	Runners-up (2011, 2015)	^[8]
Tasmania JackJumpers	4 February 2023	18	2nd	2022	Runners-up (2022)	^[9]
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	5 February 2023	18	2nd	2021	Semifinalist (2021)	^[10]
Perth Wildcats	5 February 2023	18	36th	2021	Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)	^[11]

Ladder

Pos	2022–23 NBL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Sydney Kings	28	19	9	67.86%	2–3	L2	10–4	9–5	2679	2468	108.55%
2	New Zealand Breakers	28	18	10	64.29%	5–0	W5	7–7	11–3	2423	2246	107.88%

3	Cairns Taipans	28	18	10	64.29%	2–3	W1	8–6	10–4	2455	2376	103.32%
4	Tasmania JackJumpers	28	16	12	57.14%	3–2	W2	7–7	9–5	2385	2305	103.47%
5	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	28	15	13	53.57%	3–2	L1	11–3	4–10	2553	2512	101.63%
6	Perth Wildcats	28	15	13	53.57%	2–3	W1	9–5	6–8	2580	2568	100.47%

7	Melbourne United	28	15	13	53.57%	4–1	W1	8–6	7–7	2434	2424	100.41%
8	Adelaide 36ers	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	L1	8–6	5–9	2546	2597	98.04%
9	Brisbane Bullets	28	8	20	28.57%	2–3	L3	4–10	4–10	2365	2600	90.96%
10	Illawarra Hawks	28	3	25	10.71%	1–4	L4	2–12	1–13	2261	2585	87.47%

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2023. Source: NBL.com.au

Ladder progression

	Leader and qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to play-in games
	Last place

2022–23 NBL season
Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Team ╲ Round
Adelaide 36ers	—	—	7	4	8	8	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	5	8	8	8	8
Brisbane Bullets	9	9	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Cairns Taipans	1	3	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	4	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	3
Illawarra Hawks	7	6	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Melbourne United	5	5	6	8	6	6	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	6	7	7	7
New Zealand Breakers	6	4	3	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	2
Perth Wildcats	2	1	2	5	7	7	5	7	7	6	5	6	5	7	5	5	5	6
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	4	7	8	7	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	6	7	6	6	5
Sydney Kings	3	2	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Tasmania JackJumpers	8	8	5	6	5	5	6	5	5	5	6	5	6	4	4	4	4	4

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2023. Source: NBL.com.au

Seedings

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


Play-in / Seeding qualifier			Play-in game			Semifinals					Grand Final



5	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	99				1	Sydney Kings	95	82	79

6	Perth Wildcats	106				3	Cairns Taipans	87	93	64

			3	Cairns Taipans	91						1	Sydney Kings	87	81	91	70	77

			6	Perth Wildcats	78						2	New Zealand Breakers	95	74	68	80	69

3	Cairns Taipans	79				2	New Zealand Breakers	88	78	92

4	Tasmania JackJumpers	87				4	Tasmania JackJumpers	68	89	77

Play-in tournament

Play-in qualifier

(5) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix vs. (6) Perth Wildcats

9 February 2023	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	99–106	Perth Wildcats	John Cain Arena, Melbourne
18:30	Scoring by quarter: 22–18, 29–29, 25–18, 23–41
ESPN	Pts: Creek 24 Rebs: Williams 17 Asts: Browne 5	boxscore report	Pts: Cotton 26 Rebs: Travers 9 Asts: Thomas 8	Attendance: 5,176 Referees: Michael Aylen, Chris Reid, Ruben Woolcock

Regular season series

S.E. Melbourne won 2–1 in the regular season series

28 October 2022

2023 NBL Finals

Format

Qualification

Qualified teams

Ladder

Ladder progression

Seedings

Playoff Bracket

Play-in tournament

Play-in qualifier

(5) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix vs. (6) Perth Wildcats

Seeding qualifier

(3) Cairns Taipans vs. (4) Tasmania JackJumpers

Play-in game

(3) Cairns Taipans vs. (6) Perth Wildcats

Semifinals series

(2) New Zealand Breakers vs. (4) Tasmania JackJumpers

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (3) Cairns Taipans

Grand Final series

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (2) New Zealand Breakers

Media coverage

Television

See also

References

External links

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