Basketball On The Internet.

THEY may be seventh and eighth on the NBL ladder but Townsville and Sydney certainly turned on a show last night at The Swamp.

A thriller which took so many dramatic twists and turns finally wound up with the Crocodiles prevailing 126-123 in overtime.

That combined 249-point tally is the highest for an NBL game since December, 2008, or 933 games ago!

The game was evenly poised 50-50 at halftime, literally, before Townsville dominated, Clint Steindl unbelievable and Jordair Jett making some huge plays.

But Sydney fought back from a 17-point deficit (89-72) and even took the lead in regulation!

(That was after referee Nathan Wieland was conned by a clear and over-the-top flop by Kings centre Angus Brandt. He should have been issuing Brandt a warning instead of calling a foul against Omar Samhan.)

The Crocs regained the lead and had it out to three on Corey Maynard's free throws before Marcus "It Was Nice Knowing You, Goodbye" Thornton swished a three for 109-109 and overtime.

Ten new grey hairs sprouted on the head of Crocs coach Shawn Dennis as that one went down, and a few browns just changed colour mid-flight as Jason Cadee iced a three from the corner of the court in front of him later in the overtime.

Josh Childress even banked a three in this amazing game which Townsville finally got out of, despite giving up a three-point attempt at the death to Cadee which banked and didn't miss by much.

How the Crocs even let the only Kings player left on the court who possibly could tie it up even get the ball remains a mystery Dennis can spend the winter pondering over.

Seventh versus eighth? It was one of the matches of the season and full of integrity. Just like the Illawarra-Adelaide game was earlier in the round.

COACH OF THE YEAR? Shawn Dennis, left with Hawks' Rob Beveridge. One of them will be hailed as the NBL's No.1 coach this season.

Today: MELBOURNE won't be revisiting its 37-point loss to New Zealand today at a sold-out Hisense Arena. Instead it will be United trying to make a statement before Thursday's best-of-three Semi Finals between these same two combatants tips-off. Melbourne to win.

IN Perth, it's the annual Cattalini Cup match between the Wildcats and 36ers, celebrating the career Maruin Cattalini enjoyed, winning two championships with Perth, book-ended around two championships at Adelaide. The Paul Rogers MVP Medal is up for grabs too. But with all final positions - 1-through-8 - now finalised, any heat may be out of this fixture. Wildcats to win.

Last night: TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 126 (Steindl, Samhan 25, Jett 21, Kay 15, Maynard 14; Samhan 13 rebs; Jett 9 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 123 (Cadee 32, Childress 31, Brandt 19, Thornton 18, Garlepp 11; Childress 12 rebs; Cadee 7 assts) at The Swamp in Townsville.