Basketball On The Internet.

WATCHING Tasmania and Illawarra do battle in the 3v4 NBL "play-in" playoff today is going to be difficult because both are favourites, competing in the way basketball should be contested and featuring sideline mentors Scott Roth and Justin Tatum who actually know what they want from their teams.

The good news here is that both teams played their way into a double-chance scenario with today's winner progressing into a semi-final series against Perth Wildcats, the loser still alive and waiting to host the Sydney-New Zealand knock-out winner.

The loser in that battle between last year's grand finallists bows out of the race so it's a cut-throat KO situation.

The Breakers, with star import Anthony Lamb out for the season and key Aussie playmaker Will McDowell-White injuring his shoulder in their last regular season game in Adelaide, rightly go in as rank underdogs.

Finn Delany also was unable to suit against the 36ers so the Breakers lob in Sydney with low expectations. 

Club legend and Larry Sengstock Medallist in New Zealand's historic first championship, Tom Abercrombie, already has announced his retirement so this very much may be his final NBL game.

If the Kings should lose, it also may be the final time we see sideline stalking coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah and a number of supposed Sydney stalwarts who will be eyeing other free agent opportunities.

The regular season meetings between them went like this:

Kings 87 d Breakers 85 (QBA), Breakers 109 d Kings 101 (NZ), Kings 105 d Breakers 76 (QBA). Kings won the series 2-1.

The JackJumpers-Hawks are really at 1-1. Sure, Tasmania smashed their first meeting 103-73 but that was while Jacob Jackomas was holding Illawarra's reins.

In Tatum's time, Illawarra lost 89-100 and won 108-107, so while it's actually a 2-1 series win for Tassie, technically it is 1-1 between these two coaching masters.

Both utilise the bulk of their rotations and a lot of these match-ups are mouth-watering.

Tonight, slightly leaning toward the Mad Ants to ruin Illawarra's picnic while if the Kings cannot win under these circumstances, then Parker Jackson-Cartwright has every right to run a lap of honour around Qudos Bank Arena's show court. Good luck keeping up with him.