Games Behind, WNBL19
TweetSYDNEY Uni Flames head into the WNBL's new format playoffs as almost unbackable for the 2016-17 Championship.
The Flames not only finished as comfortable regular season champions, but won the season-series over the remaining three Final Four qualifiers, not to mention "near miss" clubs Canberra and Bendigo.
For a season this even, and final positioning came down to the last shot of the last game of the season, Sydney's dominance is quite remarkable.
While it is reflected on the Games Behind table used in North American sports, the forthcoming best-of-three semi finals series will be truly testing for the Flames against the defending champion Fire.
But Townsville, like fellow semi finalists Dandenong and Perth, has been erratic - its best outstanding, its worst outrageous.
Dandenong takes the higher spot - and with it earns homecourt advantage - over Perth, courtesy of its 3-1 (+53) four-game rout of the Lynx which included a 22-point smashing in the regular season's final round.
But for those teams which were locked in the titanic struggle for those coveted Final Four berths, this was how they fared.
Again, apologies for Melbourne and Adelaide, who were out of the race long ago. But their fans can scroll to the end for a nice surprise.
BENDIGO: V Canberra 2-2, -17. 4-game Series Lost. V Dandenong 2-1, +16. Best-of-3 Series Won. V Perth 2-1, -27. Series Won. V Sydney 1-3, 0. Series Lost. V Townsville 1-3, -16. 4-game Series Lost.
CANBERRA: V Bendigo 2-2, +17. 4-game Series Won. V Dandenong 1-2, -8. Best-of-3 Series Lost. V Perth 1-2,-13. Series Lost. V Sydney 2-2, -1. 4-game Series Lost. V Townsville 3-1, -16. Series Won.
DANDENONG: V Bendigo 1-2, -16. Best-of-3 Series Lost. V Canberra 2-1 +8. Best-of-3 Series Won. V Perth 3-1, +53. Series Won. V Sydney 1-2, -11. Best-of-3 Series Lost. V Townsville 1-2, -4. Best-of-3 Series Lost.
PERTH: V Bendigo 1-2, +27. Best-of-3 Series Lost. V Canberra 2-1, +13. Best-of-3 Series Won. V Dandenong 1-3, -53. Series Lost. V Sydney 1-2, -33. Best-of-3 Series Lost. V Townsville 2-1, -11. Best-of-3 Series Won.
SYDNEY: V Bendigo 3-1, 0. Series Won. V Canberra 2-2, +1. 4-game Series Won. V Dandenong 2-1, +11. Series Won. V Perth 2-1, +33. Best-of-3 Series Won. V Townsville 3-1, +6. 4-game Series Won.
TOWNSVILLE: V Bendigo 3-1, +16. 4-game Series Won. V Canberra 1-3, +16. Series Lost. V Dandenong 2-1, +4. Series Won. V Perth 1-2, +11. Best-of-3 Series Lost. V Sydney 1-3, -6. 4-game Series Lost.