The 2026 NBL Finals was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball League's 2025–26 season.
As Australia and New Zealand participated in 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, the league took a break during the FIBA international window of 23 February to 3 March 2026, following the final set of regular season fixtures.
Format The finals were 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.
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.
Qualification Qualified teams TeamDate ofqualificationRound ofqualificationFinalsappearancePreviousappearancePrevious bestperformanceRef. Adelaide 36ers 18 January 2026 17 27th 2025 Champions (1986, 1998, 1999, 2002) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 21 January 2026 18 4th 2025 Semifinalist (2021) Sydney Kings 25 January 2026 18 20th 2025 Champions (2003, 2004, 2005, 2022, 2023) Melbourne United 25 January 2026 18 30th 2025 Champions (1993, 1997, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2021) Perth Wildcats 29 January 2026 19 39th 2025 Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) Tasmania JackJumpers 14 February 2026 21 4th 2024 Champions (2024)
Ladder
Ladder progression
Seedings Sydney Kings Adelaide 36ers S.E. Melbourne Phoenix Perth Wildcats Melbourne United 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 tournament Seeding qualifier (3) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix vs. (4) Perth Wildcats
+Regular season seriesSeries tied 2–2 in the regular season series
Play-in qualifier (5) Melbourne United vs. (6) Tasmania JackJumpers
+Regular season seriesSeries tied 2–2 in the regular season series
Play-in game (4) Perth Wildcats vs. (5) Melbourne United
+Regular season seriesMelbourne won 2–1 in the regular season series
Semifinals series (1) Sydney Kings vs. (4) Perth Wildcats
+Regular season seriesSydney won 3–0 in the regular season series
(2) Adelaide 36ers vs. (3) S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
+Regular season seriesSeries tied 2–2 in the regular season series
Championship series (1) Sydney Kings vs. (2) Adelaide 36ers
+Regular season seriesSydney won 3–1 in the regular season series
Media coverage Television The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are available live on ESPN, Kayo Sports, Network 10 and Disney+. In New Zealand, Sky Sport will be the official league broadcaster.
See also 2025–26 NBL season 2024–25 NBL regular season
References
External links
Official NBL All-Time Stats at NBL Insider