Basketball On The Internet.

HOW perfect. Today the 2015 NBL Grand Finalists will see out the regular season's penultimate round with a top-four spot hanging in the balance.

It's pretty much this simple. If the defending champion Breakers win in Auckland, Cairns officially is done for 2016 and will finish sixth while New Zealand is a step closer to returning to the playoffs.

If you're a Breakers fan, that's all you need to know about today's game.

If you're a Taipans fan, you're still dreaming your boys can sneak into the top four because you know mathematically it is possible.

So what actually has to happen for Cairns to join Melbourne, Perth and Illawarra in the postseason party?

1: It absolutely must win today. That would build its win-loss record to 13-14.

2: It must beat the Crocodiles in Townsville next round to finish its regular season on 14-14.

3: New Zealand, which would be 13-13 if (1) occurred, must beat Melbourne once this week. But it cannot lose both times (they play twice, home and away) because then it would be 13-15 and while Cairns would finish above it, it would not be able to dislodge Adelaide (14-12) from the four. The 36ers won the season-series 2-2 and +5 points so even two 36ers losses to finish them on 14-14 would leave them fourth ahead of Cairns. So New Zealand must split its two remaining games with Melbourne to finish 14-14.

4: Adelaide must lose its remaining two games - on the road to Illawarra and Perth - to finish on 14-14.

5: With Adelaide 14-14, New Zealand 14-14 and Cairns 14-14, it is a three-way tie for fourth spot. The three-way tie means the affected teams go into a "mini" championship table with only results between them pertinent. If (1) occurred - as it has to for this to work for Cairns - it would have won its season-series over New Zealand 3-1. Add its 2-2 series with Adelaide and its record is 5-3. Adelaide is 2-2 with Cairns, 2-2 with New Zealand for 4-4. And with (1) having occurred, New Zealand would be 1-3 to Cairns, 2-2 with Adelaide for 3-5. 

Therefore Cairns (5-3), would finish first, Adelaide (4-4) second, and New Zealand (3-5) third. Or, in REAL championship table terms, Cairns is fourth, Adelaide fifth, New Zealand sixth.

Effectively, Cairns needs six results to fall its way. It beats NZ and Townsville. (Those are in the Taipans' hands and do-able.) Then it needs New Zealand to beat Melbourne AND lose to Melbourne. It needs Adelaide to lose to Illawarra and to Perth.

Just a meagre six results need to fall the Orange's way.

Not a problem.

Of course, Melbourne still needs a win to take first place and finals homecourt advantage throughout so it won't be wanting to drop to the Breakers, Perth still breathing down its neck.

New Zealand has its own private war going with Adelaide and now the 36ers must finish one win ahead of the Breakers to take the coveted fourth spot.

With Jerome Randle back from injury this week, who is to say the 36ers can't get Illawarra which would give them a 15th win. That would mean New Zealand needs two wins yet to match Adelaide's 15 and take the higher spot.

It's pointless rambling any further about the possible permutations beyond saying Cairns' chances of having six results fall its way seem a bit like an Alex Loughton longshot. You've seen it happen. But you're never confident.

Today's game though is huge in every way but a Breakers win ends the dream for Cairns. New Zealand is used to doing that to the Taipans. Expect the same after a torrid encounter.

THEY might be the best of friends off the court but Townsville coach Shawn Dennis didn't cut Illawarra's Rob Beveridge any slack last night at The Sandpit, the thriller going into overtime before the Hawks prevailed 104-97.

The win put Illawarra back into the playoffs and left only the quest for fourth spot still going, Kevin Lisch putting the final seals into a win the Crocs should have taken in regulation.

Lisch's game-clincher (above) and bonus free throw (below) put the Hawks out of reach, a great effort by the Crocodiles undone by some wayward decision-making and inexperience in the crunch.

Last night: ILLAWARRA HAWKS 104 (Lisch 29, Penney 28, Ogilvy 17; Davidson 6 rebs; Martin 8 assts) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 97 (Kay 24, Jett 19, Samhan 13, Schenscher, Djeric, Norton 10; Kay 15 rebs, Jett, Norton 4 assts) in overtime at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre.

BACK in 2001, the NBL launched its first nude calendar, massaging the project's name from the much-used "nothing but net" basketball term to "Nothin' ... but skin".

I came across my copy of this masterpiece which featured not 12 but 13 of our game's superstars of that era. February (below) shows you why it's 13 and not just 12.

FEBRUARY was Jason and Darren Smith.