We're Heading to Five: History of Deciders

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

For the fifth time in NBL history, and the first time in half a decade, we’re heading to Game 5.

New Zealand’s win over the Sydney Kings in Game 4 of the NBL23 Championship Series has set us up for an incredible, historic finish to the season.

Whether it be Sydney’s 2004 victory over the West Sydney Razorbacks, all the way through to Melbourne United’s 2018 triumph over Adelaide, there are plenty of parallels between every five-game series in NBL history and the current series.

RELATED: Game 5 ticketing information

2004 – Sydney Kings defeat West Sydney Razorbacks
The 2023 Kings are headed to a Game 5 at home to win their second title in a row. Where have we seen this before?

With their ‘Violet Crumbles’ nickname well and truly shaken off by Brian Goorjian, Chris Williams and company in 2003, the Sydney Kings added the likes of league legends CJ Bruton and Shane Heal to the side for another tilt at the crown in 2004.

West Sydney awaited the Kings in the Championship Series – a formidable opposition, the Razorbacks boasted All-NBL First Team members John Rillie and Sam Mackinnon and Rookie of the Year Steven Markovic among their playing ranks – and Australian basketball legend Gordon McLeod led the way from the sidelines.

The Kings struck a handsome blow in Game 1, with a 20-point win at home to open the series, but the Razorbacks evened the tie up with an equally as dominant 15-point win in Game 2.

West Sydney earned a dramatic two-point overtime win in Game 3 with five players hitting double digit scoring. Rillie played an incredible 51 minutes in the win and finished with a team-high 18 points.

A dominant third quarter in Game 4 saw Sydney take the ascendency, but a fourth quarter comeback from the Razorbacks left a nail-biting finish – then, Ebi Ere took over and dropped 24 points in a five-point win.

Game 5 was back in front of the Kings’ faithful at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and Ere once again took over.

The future NBL scoring champion dropped 24 points in the win and snatched the game from the clutches of the Razorbacks in the fourth quarter, while league and Grand Final MVP Matt Nielsen added 14 points of his own.

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Aaron Trahir and Simon Dwight both scored well for the Razorbacks, but the championship winning experience of the Kings proved too strong, as they lifted the trophy courtesy of a 90-79 Game 5 victory.

Sydney
The Sydney Kings celebrate winning the 2004 NBL title over the West Sydney Razorbacks.

2008 – Melbourne Tigers defeat Sydney Kings
One of the burgeoning rivalries of the mid-late 2000s, Melbourne ended Sydney’s hopes of a fourth straight championship in 2006, and the Kings were back for revenge two seasons later.

David Barlow had evolved from a young, exciting talent on the Kings to a genuine match-winner at the Tigers – and both he and Darryl McDonald played crucial support roles to reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Chris Anstey.

Much of the Kings’ three-peat squad had moved onto pastures new by 2008, but veteran Jason Smith was now joined by 2001 champion Glen Saville, and the exceptional emerging talent of Mark Worthington.

The Kings handily dispatched the Tigers in Game 1 of the series thanks to a fourth quarter demolition job. They outscored the Tigers by 22 points in the final term to win the game by 21 – and Worthington starred with 35 points from the wing.

Melbourne scored just nine points in the entire final quarter of the game for a record that still stands as one of the lowest-scoring quarters in NBL Championship Series history.

Game 2 saw the Tigers bite back though. Three Melbourne players – Anstey, Barlow and Sean Lampley finished with 20 points or more – but it was once again the final quarter that proved the point of difference in the game.

This time the Tigers outscored the Kings in the final stanza by 10 points to win the game by 11.

Game 3 saw the Tigers eek out a narrow win in Sydney despite a fast finish from the Kings. Anstey was at his dominant best with 27 points and 15 rebounds, but the Kings outscored Melbourne by 10 points in the final quarter to have fans of both sides biting their nails in anticipation of the final result.

Game 4 resulted in an all-time great win off the back of an all-time great performance from Kings import Dontaye Draper.

The Tigers looked to have the series wrapped up and led by almost 20 points as the end of the third quarter approached. An injured Draper took to the floor and broke the game open in the final quarter to lead the Kings to a famous three-point win at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.

Draper played just 13 minutes for the game, but finished with eight points, four assists and a pair of steals to lead his team to victory.

Game 5 saw both teams head back to Sydney – and once again it was a final quarter blowout that decided the game and, in this case, the series.

The game was evenly poised at 61-63, with Melbourne holding a slender lead entering the fourth quarter.

The Tigers went on to restrict the Kings to just 12 points in the final stanza of the season and ran out as 12-point winners on the night, largely thanks to the 21-point, 12-rebound performance from Anstey, who completed the league MVP, Grand Final MVP, and championship treble for the second time in three seasons.

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The Melbourne Tigers celebrate winning the 2008 NBL title over the Sydney - their second championship triumph over the Kigns in three seasons.

2009 – South Dragons defeat the Melbourne Tigers
Should the Breakers win this season’s title, they’ll become the second side to follow a bottom-placed finish on the ladder with a championship – after the South Dragons who, incidentally, also defeated the reigning champions in five games in 2009.

The Dragons totally re-tooled after their 2008 wooden spoon finish, and added the likes of Mark Worthington, Mika Vukona, Adam Gibson and Rhys Carter to the side – while young star Joe Ingles took a massive leap forward in his development, as a move to Europe loomed.

The Tigers once again entered the Grand Final Series in enemy territory, and Worthington, Ingles and Donta Smith put them to the sword in the final quarter of Game 1 to earn an eight-point win.

Home court advantage proved crucial in this series, and Melbourne continued the theme with a Game 2 win in an evenly matched contest. David Barlow and Chris Anstey both scored over 20 points in the win, with the Tigers’ ability to get to the line – they shot 25 free throws to 10 – proving to be a key difference- maker.

A first quarter blitz in Game 3 saw the Dragons continue the trend of home team victories. They outscored the Tigers by 12 points in the opening stanza and went on the win the game by 17.

Game 4 presented something of a shootout between the two sides. Melbourne dropped 102 points on over 45 per cent shooting, with Anstey and former Sydney hero Ebi Ere proving the heroes in the 13-point win.

Game 5 saw the Dragons win at home – meaning the 2009 series was the first time the home team won every single contest in a five game series in NBL history.

Import pair Tremmell Darden and Donta Smith combined for over half the Dragons’ points in the game – and Smith flirted with a triple-double, thanks to his 10 rebounds and seven assists to complement his 21 points.

The Tigers’ shooting percentage went through the floor with Anstey locked down to just 12 points from 12 shots, and Smith took home the Grand Final MVP trophy in the greatest NBL Cinderella story of all-time. To date, at least.

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The South Dragons competed the NBL's greatest bottom to top story in the competition's history in 2009. Should the New Zealand Breakers win in Game 5 this season they'll match the Dragons' incredible achievement.

2018 – Melbourne United defeat Adelaide 36ers
The most recent occasion in which an NBL Championship Series has reached a fifth game, Chris Goulding, Casper Ware and Melbourne United took on the Mitch Creek and Daniel Johnson led Adelaide 36ers.

United took the home-court advantage thanks to their top of the ladder finish – and they made the most of that advantage with an opening game 107-96 win, in which Chris Goulding finished with 26 points, despite hitting just three of 14 three-point attempts.

Goulding attempted more threes than the entire Adelaide side, who themselves only shot two-of-11 from the arc as a unit.

The 36ers won another high-scoring clash in Game 2 in a strong team effort. They scored 25 points or more in every quarter as a remarkable seven different players scored in double-digits for the game – they were led by current Cairns star Majok Deng’s 18 points on 87.5 per cent shooting.

The offensive-minded nature of the series continued with another shootout in Game 3, as the winning side broke the 100-point barrier for the third time in three games.

United maintained the home court advantage with a three-point win in which import pair Casper Ware and Casey Prather put the team on their backs. Prather dropped 23 points while Ware added 25.

Current NBL Media personality Pete Hooley also chipped in with four points, two assists and two rebounds off the bench.

Defence came to the fore in Game 4, as Adelaide restricted the visiting Melbourne side to just 10 points in the second quarter.

It was the first time neither side had hit 100 points in the game, and a second half comeback helped United give themselves a chance of victory in the end, but the 36ers once again saluted.

Daniel Johnson top scored with 20 points and also grabbed nine rebounds, but Mitch Creek, Majok Deng, Ramone Moore, Shannon Shorter and Nathan Sobey all also scored in double-digits.

It was back to Melbourne for Game 5 and starting backcourt pair Casper Ware and Chris Goulding put the 36ers to the sword, despite the efforts of Shannon Shorter and Daniel Johnson.

United’s star pair each put up 23 points, while imports Casey Prather and Josh Boone both finished the game with double-doubles. Prather put up 19 points and grabbed 11 boards while Boone scored 10 points and added 12 rebounds.

Prather became just the third player in NBL history – and the first import – to win back-to-back NBL championships with different sides. Local New Zealand talent Tom Vodanovich is looking to become the fourth player to achieve the milestone having raised the NBL22 trophy with the Kings.

Goulding became just the second local player in six seasons after Perth’s Damian Martin in 2016 to earn Grand Final MVP honours.

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Melbourne United celebrates their win in 2018.