2026 NBL Finals

2026 NBL Finals
TeamCoachWins
Sydney Kings Brian Goorjian 1
Adelaide 36ers Mike Wells 0
Country Australia
Dates4 March – 1 April
Season2025–26
Teams6
Defending championsIllawarra Hawks
(did not qualify)
SemifinalistsS.E. Melbourne Phoenix
Perth Wildcats
Matches played9
Attendance74,390 (8,266 per match)
All statistics correct as of 21 March 2026.

The 2026 NBL Finals was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball League's 2025–26 season.

As Australia and New Zealand will participate in 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, the league will take a break during the FIBA international window of 23 February to 3 March 2026.[1][2]

Format

The finals will be played in March and April 2026 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 NBL Championship series, where the highest seed hosted the first, third and fifth games.[3][4]

The top two seeds in the regular season automatically qualified to the semifinals. Teams ranked three to six competed in the play-in tournament. The third seed played the fourth seed for third spot and the loser played the winner of fifth or sixth for the fourth seed.[5]

Qualification

Qualified teams

Team Date of
qualification 		Round of
qualification 		Finals
appearance 		Previous
appearance 		Previous best
performance 		Ref.
Adelaide 36ers 18 January 2026 17 27th 2025 Champions (1986, 1998, 1999, 2002) [6]
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 21 January 2026 18 4th 2025 Semifinalist (2021) [7]
Sydney Kings 25 January 2026 18 20th 2025 Champions (2003, 2004, 2005, 2022, 2023) [8]
Melbourne United 25 January 2026 18 30th 2025 Champions (1993, 1997, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2021) [9]
Perth Wildcats 29 January 2026 19 39th 2025 Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) [10]
Tasmania JackJumpers 14 February 2026 21 4th 2024 Champions (2024) [11]

Ladder

Pos 2025–26 NBL season
Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP
1 Sydney Kings 33 24 9 72.73% 5–0 W11 13–4 11–5 3276 2879 113.79%
2 Adelaide 36ers 33 23 10 69.70% 2–3 L1 12–5 11–5 3042 2890 105.26%
3 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 33 22 11 66.67% 3–2 L1 11–5 11–6 3324 3061 108.59%
4 Perth Wildcats 33 21 12 63.64% 4–1 W1 10–7 11–5 2996 2840 105.49%
5 Melbourne United 33 20 13 60.61% 2–3 W1 11–6 9–7 3041 2905 104.68%
6 Tasmania JackJumpers 33 14 19 42.42% 2–3 L2 6–10 8–9 2873 2884 99.62%
7 New Zealand Breakers 33 13 20 39.39% 2–3 W1 7–9 6–11 3022 3058 98.82%
8 Illawarra Hawks 33 13 20 39.39% 3–2 W2 7–9 6–11 3074 3205 95.91%
9 Cairns Taipans 33 9 24 27.27% 1–4 L2 4–13 5–11 2754 3194 86.22%
10 Brisbane Bullets 33 6 27 18.18% 0–5 L13 2–14 4–13 2710 3196 84.79%

Updated to match(es) played on 20 February 2026. Source: NBL.com.au

Ladder progression

Leader and qualification to semifinals
Qualification to semifinals
Qualification to play-in
Last place
2025–26 NBL season
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Adelaide 36ers—212233322111111111122
Brisbane Bullets37897777889999910101010101010
Cairns Taipans7477810910101010101010109999999
Illawarra Hawks—99810810879888878878888
Melbourne United2121111111223234444555
New Zealand Breakers6101010998997677787787777
Perth Wildcats5643655554455555555444
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix1564322233332422223333
Sydney Kings—856564445544343332211
Tasmania JackJumpers4335446666766666666666
Updated to match(es) played on 20 February 2026. Source: NBL.com.au

Seedings

  1. Sydney Kings
  2. Adelaide 36ers
  3. S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
  4. Perth Wildcats
  5. Melbourne United
  6. Tasmania JackJumpers

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 qualifierPlay-in gameSemifinalsChampionship
5Melbourne United821Sydney Kings10589X
6Tasmania JackJumpers684Perth Wildcats10475X
4Perth Wildcats951Sydney Kings112
5Melbourne United772Adelaide 36ers68
3S.E. Melbourne Phoenix1112Adelaide 36ers10492108
4Perth Wildcats943S.E. Melbourne Phoenix9710196


Play-in tournament

Seeding qualifier

(3) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix vs. (4) Perth Wildcats

4 March 2026 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 111–94 Perth Wildcats John Cain Arena, Melbourne
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 35–29, 29–18, 22–17, 25–30
ESPN Pts: Sobey 24
Rebs: Brown 8
Asts: Sobey 7 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Doolittle 22
Rebs: three players 6
Asts: Windler 7 		Attendance: 3,981
Referees: Ken Arrick, James Griguol, Vaughan Mayberry
Regular season series
Series tied 2–2 in the regular season series

Play-in qualifier

(5) Melbourne United vs. (6) Tasmania JackJumpers

5 March 2026 Melbourne United 82–68 Tasmania JackJumpers John Cain Arena, Melbourne
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 25–14, 16–24, 26–13
ESPN Pts: Delany 33
Rebs: Krslovic 7
Asts: Doyle, Walker 6 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Marshall 20
Rebs: Deng 9
Asts: Campbell 6 		Attendance: 5,071
Referees: Chris Reid, Ken Widgeon, Ruben Woolcock
Regular season series
Series tied 2–2 in the regular season series

Play-in game

(4) Perth Wildcats vs. (5) Melbourne United

7 March 2026 Perth Wildcats 95–77 Melbourne United Perth Arena, Perth
17:00 Scoring by quarter: 22–19, 22–34, 23–10, 28–14
ESPN Pts: Lual-Acuil28
Rebs: Lual-Acuil 12
Asts: Doolittle, Henshall 6 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Doyle 13
Rebs: Edwards 8
Asts: Delany 3 		Attendance: 6,731
Referees: Ken Arrick, Michael Aylen, Nico Fernandes
Regular season series
Melbourne won 2–1 in the regular season series

Semifinals series

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (4) Perth Wildcats

11 March 2026 Sydney Kings 105–104
(Series: Sydney leads series, 1–0) 		Perth Wildcats Sydney SuperDome, Sydney
19:30 Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 26–20, 25–31, 32–29
ESPN Pts: Davis 35
Rebs: Craig 9
Asts: Davis 6 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Doolittle 31
Rebs: Lual-Acuil 12
Asts: Duke 8 		Attendance: 10,132
Referees: Nico Fernandes, Vaughan Mayberry, Ken Widgeon
14 March 2026 Perth Wildcats 75–89
(Series: Sydney wins series, 2–0) 		Sydney Kings Perth Arena, Perth
17:00 Scoring by quarter: 23–22, 23–21, 13–17, 16–29
ESPN Pts: Henshall 20
Rebs: Lual-Acuil 14
Asts: Duke 5 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Davis 27
Rebs: Maluach 8
Asts: Davis, Dellavedova 5 		Attendance: 9,711
Referees: Michael Aylen, Nico Fernandes, Ken Widgeon
Regular season series
Sydney won 3–0 in the regular season series

(2) Adelaide 36ers vs. (3) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix

10 March 2026 Adelaide 36ers 104–97
(Series: Adelaide leads series, 1–0) 		S.E. Melbourne Phoenix Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 25–27, 25–21, 27–27, 27–22
ESPN Pts: Cotton 42
Rebs: Rakocevic 10
Asts: three players 5 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Sobey 23
Rebs: Sobey 10
Asts: Sobey 7 		Attendance: 10,055
Referees: Ken Arrick, Michael Aylen, Chris Reid
14 March 2026 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 101–92
(Series: Series tied, 1–1) 		Adelaide 36ers John Cain Arena, Melbourne
17:30 Scoring by quarter: 19–30, 25–27, 39–20, 18–15
ESPN Pts: Sobey 41
Rebs: Brown 7
Asts: Foxwell 7 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Cotton 29
Rebs: Rakocevic 10
Asts: Cameron 8 		Attendance: 5,600
Referees: Ken Arrick, Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid
17 March 2026 Adelaide 36ers 108–96
(Series: Adelaide wins series, 2–1) 		S.E. Melbourne Phoenix Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 28–17, 31–28, 24–19, 25–32
ESPN Pts: Cotton 38
Rebs: Cheatham 13
Asts: Cotton 7 		boxscore
report 		Pts: Clark 32
Rebs: Brown 10
Asts: Sobey 8 		Attendance: 10,018
Regular season series
Series tied 2–2 in the regular season series

Championship series

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (2) Adelaide 36ers

21 March 2026 Sydney Kings 112–68
(Series: Sydney leads series, 1–0) 		Adelaide 36ers Sydney SuperDome, Sydney
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 31–23, 28–16, 31–17, 22–12
ESPN Pts: Davis 25
Rebs: Soares 8
Asts: Davis 7 		boxscore
report 		Pts: White 11
Rebs: Cheatham 7
Asts: Cotton 7 		Attendance: 13,181
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Chris Reid, Ken Widgeon
27 March 2026 Adelaide 36ers vs. Sydney Kings Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
19:00 Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, –
ESPN boxscore
29 March 2026 Sydney Kings vs. Adelaide 36ers Sydney SuperDome, Sydney
14:30 Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, –
ESPN boxscore
1 April 2026 Adelaide 36ers vs. Sydney Kings Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
19:00 Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, –
ESPN boxscore
TBC Sydney Kings vs. Adelaide 36ers Sydney SuperDome, Sydney
Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, –
ESPN
Regular season series
Sydney won 3–1 in the regular season series
17 December 2025
Sydney Kings 97, Adelaide 36ers 93 (OT)

Media coverage

Television

The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are available live on ESPN, Kayo Sports, Network 10 and Disney+.[12] In New Zealand, Sky Sport will be the official league broadcaster.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ignite Cup champions headline Tall Blacks squad". NBL.com.au. 23 February 2026. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  2. ^ Uluc, Olgun (18 February 2026). "Boomers team selected for World Cup qualifiers". ESPN Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  3. ^ "NBL26 Finals: Matchups, venues, dates & times". NBL.com.au. 24 February 2026. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  4. ^ Uluc, Olgun (20 June 2025). "Storylines everywhere as NBL releases schedule for 2025-26 season". ESPN Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  5. ^ Higgins, Josh (21 February 2026). "Fixtures and match-ups for NBL Play-In Tournament confirmed as Finals Series heats up". Fox Sports. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  6. ^ @nbl; (18 January 2026). "Following last round's results, the @adelaide36ers have officially clinched a spot in the post-season 🤩". Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  7. ^ @nbl; (21 January 2026). "The @semelbphoenix are officially post-season bound following their win over New Zealand 💚". Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  8. ^ @nbl; (25 January 2026). "The @sydneykings are heading to the post-season following today's win over Adelaide 👑". Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  9. ^ @nbl; (25 January 2026). "@melbunited secure their place in the post-season after defeating the Perth Wildcats today 💪". Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  10. ^ @nbl; (29 January 2026). "The @perthwildcats have secured a spot in the post-season following Sydney's win over Illawarra 😼". Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  11. ^ @nbl; (14 February 2026). "The @jackjumpers have secured a spot in the post-season following Adelaide's win over New Zealand 🐜". Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via Instagram.
  12. ^ "NBL strikes new media deal". NBL.com.au. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  13. ^ "New Zealand broadcast details revealed". NBL.com.au. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
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