# 2017 NBL Finals

The 2017 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2016–17 NBL season and the conclusion of the season. Perth Wildcats defeated Illawarra Hawks in three games (3-0) to claim their eighth NBL championship.

## Format

The 2016–17 National Basketball League Finals were played in February and March 2017 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 hosted the first, third and fifth games.

## Qualification
### Qualified teams

| Team | Date of qualification | Round of qualification | Finals appearance | Previous appearance | Previous best performance |
| Adelaide 36ers | 21 January 2017 | 16 | 24th | 2015 | Champions (1986, 1998, 1999, 2002) |
| Illawarra Hawks | 11 February 2017 | 19 | 20th | 2016 | Champions (2001) |
| Cairns Taipans | 11 February 2017 | 19 | 6th | 2015 | Runners-up (2011, 2015) |
| Perth Wildcats | 12 February 2017 | 19 | 31st | 2016 | Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016) |

### Ladder

| Pos | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte | 2016–17 NBL season vte |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Last 5 | Streak | Home | Away | PF | PA | PP |
| 1 | Adelaide 36ers | 28 | 17 | 11 | 60.71% | 1–4 | L4 | 9–5 | 8–6 | 2582 | 2505 | 103.07% |
| 2 | Cairns Taipans$^1$ | 28 | 15 | 13 | 53.57% | 4–1 | W3 | 10–4 | 5–9 | 2305 | 2301 | 100.17% |
| 3 | Perth Wildcats$^1$ | 28 | 15 | 13 | 53.57% | 4–1 | W2 | 10–4 | 5–9 | 2294 | 2257 | 101.64% |
| 4 | Illawarra Hawks$^1$ | 28 | 15 | 13 | 53.57% | 3–2 | W1 | 9–5 | 6–8 | 2486 | 2444 | 101.72% |
| 5 | New Zealand Breakers | 28 | 14 | 14 | 50.00% | 3–2 | W2 | 9–5 | 5–9 | 2353 | 2387 | 98.58% |
| 6 | Melbourne United$^2$ | 28 | 13 | 15 | 46.43% | 2–3 | L2 | 9–5 | 4–10 | 2351 | 2337 | 100.60% |
| 7 | Sydney Kings$^2$ | 28 | 13 | 15 | 46.43% | 2–3 | L2 | 7–7 | 6–8 | 2295 | 2311 | 99.31% |
| 8 | Brisbane Bullets | 28 | 10 | 18 | 35.71% | 1–4 | L4 | 6–8 | 4–10 | 2268 | 2392 | 94.82% |
Updated to match(es) played on 12 February 2017. Source: NBL.com.au

### Ladder progression

* 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.
2016–17 NBL season vte :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| Adelaide 36ers | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brisbane Bullets | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Cairns Taipans | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Illawarra Hawks | 1 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Melbourne United | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| New Zealand Breakers | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Perth Wildcats | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Sydney Kings | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7 |

### Seedings

* Adelaide 36ers
* Cairns Taipans
* Perth Wildcats
* Illawarra Hawks
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

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| 1 | Adelaide 36ers | 93 | 94 | 98 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Illawarra Hawks | 78 | 100 | 106 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Illawarra Hawks | 78 | 100 | 106 | 3 | Perth Wildcats | 89 | 89 | 95 | X | X |
| | | | | | 4 | Illawarra Hawks | 77 | 77 | 86 | X | X |
| 2 | Cairns Taipans | 69 | 66 | X | 4 | Illawarra Hawks | 77 | 77 | 86 | X | X |
| 3 | Perth Wildcats | 91 | 74 | X | | | | | | | |

## Semi-finals series
### (1) Adelaide 36ers vs (4) Illawarra Hawks

Regular season series
Illawarra won 3–1 in the regular season series:

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

Regular season series
Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 323-317 points differential to Perth:

## Grand Final series
### (3) Perth Wildcats vs (4) Illawarra Hawks

Regular season series
Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 336-330 points differential to Perth: