The 2016 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2015–16 NBL season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Perth Wildcats defeated the New Zealand Breakers in three games (2–1) to claim their seventh NBL championship.

2016 NBL Finals
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Tournament details
Countries Australia
 New Zealand
Dates16 February – 6 March 2016
Season2015–16
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsPerth Wildcats (7th title)
Runner-upNew Zealand Breakers
Semifinalists
← 2015
2017 →

Format

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The 2015–16 National Basketball League Finals were played in February and March 2016 between the top four teams of the regular season, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and final series, where the higher seed hosts the first and third games.[1]

Qualification

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Qualified teams

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Team Date of
qualification
Round of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Previous
appearance
Previous best
performance
Melbourne United 29 January 2016 17 22nd 2014 Champions (1993, 1997, 2006, 2008)
Perth Wildcats 5 February 2016 18 30th 2015 Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014)
Illawarra Hawks 6 February 2016 18 19th 2014 Champions (2001)
New Zealand Breakers 12 February 2016 19 7th 2015 Champions (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)

Ladder

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Pos 2015–16 NBL season
Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP
1 Melbourne United1 28 18 10 64.29% 2–3 L2 11–3 7–7 2384 2342 101.79%
2 Perth Wildcats1 28 18 10 64.29% 3–2 W1 12–2 6–8 2391 2266 105.52%
3 Illawarra Hawks 28 17 11 60.71% 3–2 W2 11–3 6–8 2637 2486 106.07%
4 New Zealand Breakers 28 16 12 57.14% 5–0 W5 11–3 5–9 2357 2282 103.29%
5 Adelaide 36ers 28 14 14 50.00% 1–4 L4 10–4 4–10 2495 2500 99.80%
6 Cairns Taipans 28 12 16 42.86% 2–3 L2 11–3 1–13 2238 2354 95.07%
7 Townsville Crocodiles 28 11 17 39.29% 3–2 W2 8–6 3–11 2271 2390 95.02%
8 Sydney Kings 28 6 22 21.43% 1–4 L1 5–9 1–13 2416 2569 94.04%

Updated to match(es) played on 14 February 2016. Source: NBL.com.au

Ladder Progression

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  • 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.
2015–16 NBL season
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Adelaide 36ers 4 6 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 5
Cairns Taipans 6 3 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Illawarra Hawks 7 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 3 3 3 3
Melbourne United 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
New Zealand Breakers 5 8 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 5 5 5 4 4
Perth Wildcats 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 2
Sydney Kings 1 5 8 7 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Townsville Crocodiles 8 7 7 8 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Seedings

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  1. Melbourne United
  2. Perth Wildcats
  3. Illawarra Hawks
  4. New Zealand Breakers

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

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Semifinals Grand Final
          
1 Melbourne United 82 78 X
4 New Zealand Breakers 91 91 X
2 Perth Wildcats 82 68 75
4 New Zealand Breakers 76 72 52
2 Perth Wildcats 80 87 89
3 Illawarra Hawks 68 104 74


Semi-finals series

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(1) Melbourne United vs (4) New Zealand Breakers

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18 February 2016 Melbourne United 82–91
(Series: New Zealand leads series, 1–0)
New Zealand Breakers Hisense Arena, Melbourne
7:30pm EDT Scoring by quarter: 16-27, 25-11, 17-24, 24-29
Fox Sports Pts: Hakim Warrick 24
Rebs: Hakim Warrick 13
Asts: Stephen Holt 4
boxscore report Pts: Cedric Jackson 20
Rebs: Mika Vukona 13
Asts: Mika Vukona 5
Attendance: 5,532
Referees: Michael Aylen, Brad Giersch, Matt Townsend
20 February 2016 New Zealand Breakers 91–78
(Series: New Zealand win series, 2–0)
Melbourne United Vector Arena, Auckland
7:30pm NZDT Scoring by quarter: 23-17, 18-29, 17-11, 33-21
Sky Sport Pts: Thomas Abercrombie 23
Rebs: Mika Vukona 9
Asts: Cedric Jackson 5
boxscore report Pts: Chris Goulding 23
Rebs: Todd Blanchfield 8
Asts: Nate Tomlinson 5
Attendance: TBA
Referees: Michael Aylen, Brad Giersch, Matt Townsend

Regular season series

New Zealand won 3–1 in the regular season series:

8 November 2015 Melbourne United 87–86 New Zealand Breakers Hisense Arena, Melbourne
22 November 2015 New Zealand Breakers 80–69 Melbourne United Vector Arena, Auckland
12 February 2016 New Zealand Breakers 100–63 Melbourne United North Shore Events Centre, Auckland
14 February 2016 Melbourne United 68–70 New Zealand Breakers Hisense Arena, Melbourne

(2) Perth Wildcats vs (3) Illawarra Hawks

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19 February 2016 Perth Wildcats 80–68
(Series: Perth leads series, 1-0)
Illawarra Hawks Perth Arena, Perth
6:30pm WST Scoring by quarter: 15-18, 24-18, 21-15, 20-17
Fox Sports Pts: Casey Prather 19
Rebs: Tom Jervis 8
Asts: Damian Martin 6
boxscore report Pts: Tim Coenraad 23
Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 11
Asts: Rhys Martin 4
Attendance: 8,700
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Matt Beattie, Chris Reid
21 February 2016 Illawarra Hawks 104–87
(Series: Series tied, 1–1)
Perth Wildcats WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
3:00pm EDT Scoring by quarter: 24-26, 28-24, 27-16, 21-16
Fox Sports Pts: Oscar Forman 21
Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 7
Asts: Kirk Penney 7
boxscore report Pts: Casey Prather 21
Rebs: Nathan Jawai 8
Asts: Damian Martin 7
Attendance: TBA
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Matt Beattie, Chris Reid
26 February 2016 Perth Wildcats 89–74
(Series: Perth wins series, 2-1)
Illawarra Hawks Perth Arena, Perth
6:30pm WST Scoring by quarter: 22-20, 27-22, 21-14, 19-18
Fox Sports Pts: Jermaine Beal 17
Rebs: Matthew Knight 9
Asts: Casey Prather 4
boxscore report Pts: Kirk Penney 18
Rebs: Andrew Ogilvy 11
Asts: Andrew Ogilvy 5
Attendance: TBA
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Matt Beattie, Chris Reid

Regular season series

Perth won 4-0 in the regular season series:

25 October 2015 Illawarra Hawks 99–106 Perth Wildcats WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
31 October 2015 Perth Wildcats 91–62 Illawarra Hawks Perth Arena, Perth
11 November 2015 Illawarra Hawks 96–99 Perth Wildcats WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
21 January 2016 Perth Wildcats 95–72 Illawarra Hawks Perth Arena, Perth

Grand Final series

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(2) Perth Wildcats vs (4) New Zealand Breakers

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2 March 2016 Perth Wildcats 82–76
(Series: Perth leads series, 1-0)
New Zealand Breakers Perth Arena, Perth
6:30pm WST Scoring by quarter: 24-14, 21-24, 18-23, 19-15
Fox Sports Pts: Nathan Jawai 15
Rebs: Damian Martin 10
Asts: Damian Martin 5
boxscore report Pts: Corey Webster 19
Rebs: Charles Jackson 10
Asts: Cedric Jackson 2
Attendance: TBA
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, Matt Beattie
4 March 2016 New Zealand Breakers 72–68
(Series: Series tied, 1-1)
Perth Wildcats North Shore Events Centre, Auckland
7:30pm NZDT Scoring by quarter: 16-17, 21-14, 19-19, 16-18
Sky Sport Pts: Cedric Jackson 13
Rebs: Cedric Jackson 9
Asts: Cedric Jackson 8
boxscore report Pts: Jermaine Beal 20
Rebs: Matthew Knight 6
Asts: Jermaine Beal 4
Attendance: TBA
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, Chris Reid
6 March 2016 Perth Wildcats 75–52
(Series: Perth wins series, 2–1)
New Zealand Breakers Perth Arena, Perth
2:30pm WST Scoring by quarter: 22-18, 20-12, 15-8, 18-14
Fox Sports Pts: Casey Prather 19
Rebs: Matthew Knight 11
Asts: Jesse Wagstaff 5
boxscore report Pts: Thomas Abercrombie 21
Rebs: Charles Jackson 12
Asts: Corey Webster 4
Attendance: 13,090
Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, Brad Giersch

Regular season series

Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 347-327 points differential to New Zealand:

16 October 2015 Perth Wildcats 83–80 New Zealand Breakers Perth Arena, Perth
13 November 2015 New Zealand Breakers 88–80 Perth Wildcats Vector Arena, Auckland
27 November 2015 Perth Wildcats 86–80 New Zealand Breakers Perth Arena, Perth
2 December 2015 New Zealand Breakers 99–78 Perth Wildcats North Shore Events Centre, Auckland

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Swisse partners with NBL to launch Swisse NBL Finals Series". NBL.com.au. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.