NBL Finals
Year2020
Season2019–20
Dates28 February – 15 March
Num teams4
Semifinal 1Cairns Taipans
Semifinal 2Melbourne United
Prev season2019
Next season2021
Defending championsPerth Wildcats
WinnersPerth Wildcats
Count10
SecondSydney Kings
Matches9
Attendance66000
MVPBryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
Stat leader playerBryce Cotton

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 and being cancelled on 15 March 2020.

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 COVID-19 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. In the event of a player being diagnosed with COVID-19, 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.[4] Subsequently, the NBL decided to cancel Games 4 and 5. With the Perth Wildcats leading the series 2–1,[5] the NBL announced that the Wildcats were declared the champions.[6]

Qualification

Qualified teams

TeamDate of
qualification		Round of
qualification		Finals
appearance		Previous
appearance		Previous best
performance
Sydney Kings24 January 20201715th2019Champions (2003, 2004, 2005)
Perth Wildcats1 February 20201834th2019Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019)
Cairns Taipans8 February 2020198th2017Runners-up (2011, 2015)
Melbourne United16 February 20202025th2019Champions (1993, 1997, 2006, 2008, 2018)

Ladder

<section begin="bracket" /><section end="bracket" />

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.

Semi-finals series

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

Regular season series

Cairns won 2–1 in the regular season series:

(1) Sydney Kings vs. (4) Melbourne United

Regular season series

Sydney won 3–1 in the regular season series:

Grand Final series

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

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.[5][6]

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. Archived 22 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  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. ^ Uluc, Olgun (21 March 2020). "NBL finals 2020: Sydney Kings vs Perth Wildcats inside story, Paul Smith, Andrew Bogut, Larry Kestelman, Grand Final". Fox Sports. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Remaining NBL Grand Final Series Games Cancelled | NBL". nbl.com.au. NBL. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Perth Wildcats Crowned NBL20 Champions | NBL". nbl.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.