Basketball On The Internet.

AS New Zealand went down to Sydney today for its second loss to NSW teams this round, the NBL was able to reveal its draw for the semis, with Melbourne-New Zealand and Adelaide-Perth the mouth-watering matchups.

Australia will have its own taste of "March Madness" with the championship up for grabs with two best-of-three semis, and a best-of-five Grand Final Series to come.

Regular season champs United have history with the Breakers, Melbourne's coach Dean Vickerman masterminding NZ's last championship.

And Adelaide-Perth's history dates back to 1987 and has further been fuelled by tensions overflowing during the Cattalini Cup match in Perth recently.

The season breaks next weekend for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in the Asia zone, with Australia's Boomers and New Zealand's Tall Blacks contesting series against the Phillipines and Chinese Taipei, and against China and Korea respectively.

But then it will be on, with Saturday, March 3 the tip-off for what should be a fiercely contested playoff series.

Semi Final Series 1 - Melbourne United (1) v New Zealand Breakers (4)
Game 1 – Saturday, March 3 – Hisense Arena, 5.30pm
Game 2 – Monday, March 5 – Spark Arena, 7.30pm
Game 3 (if required) – Sunday, March 11 – Hisense Arena, Time TBC

Semi Final Series 2 - Adelaide 36ers (2) v Perth Wildcats (3)
Game 1 – Saturday, March 3 – Titanium Security Arena, 7pm
Game 2 – Friday, March 9 – Perth Arena, 6.30pm
Game 3 (if required) – Sunday, March 11 – Titanium Security Arena, Time TBC

All times are local.