Basketball On The Internet.

HOW great was it to see a big guy dominate an NBL game in the manner Miles Plumlee did as Perth held off New Zealand 80-79 in a thriller last round?

Sure, the match was a cracker and went down to the last steal by Terrico White but former NBA centre Plumlee was assuredly the story.

He went to work with 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting (68 per cent), with a whopping 18 rebounds, a couple of assists, a steal and two blocks.

It was a personal tour de force and great to see such a pivotal performance for Perth, Bryce Cotton's equal game-high 23 points and four assists again just a performance we now take for granted. Such is the burden of greatness!

Cairns' super backcourt duo of Scott Machado and DJ Newbill were on song again as the Taipans ended South East Melbourne's playoff dreams.

Machado had 24 points at 57 per cent, including 5-of-6 threes and eight assists, Newbill not far behind with 23 points at 72 per cent, six rebounds and seven assists.

For the Phoenix, Mitch Creek scored a career-high 32 points in what ultimately was a disappointing finish for his rookie club which has been such fun to watch for most of the season.

In Sydney, Casper Ware shrugged off his recent shooting blues with 26 points at 50 per cent, featuring 8-of-15 threes as the Kings spanked his former Melbourne team 106-88.

But "The Man" for us here at Basketball On The Internet this round was none other than Brisbane Bullet's All Star do-it-all forward Lamar Patterson.

A previous Player of the Week winner for Round 15, Patterson is finishing the season in style and had 27 points, three boards, four assists and two steals in the home win over South East Melbourne.

He backed that up in the road win at Adelaide with 29 points, five boards, five assists and two steals for round averages of 28 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals. And he struck three 3-pointers in each game, shooting from range at 50 per cent (6-of-12).

In driving Brisbane into the top four, it made him the obvious choice as our Player of the Week.BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET PLAYER of the WEEK

Round 1 Mitch Creek (SEM Phoenix)
Round 2 John Roberson (SEM Phoenix)
Round 3 Andrew Bogut (Sydney Kings)
Round 4 Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
Round 5 Shawn Long (Melbourne United)
Round 6 LaMelo Ball (Illawarra Hawks)
Round 7 Melo Trimble (Melbourne United)
Round 8 LaMelo Ball (Illawarra Hawks)
Round 9 Daniel Johnson (Adelaide 36ers)
Round 10 Scott Machado (Cairns Taipans)
Round 11 Jerome Randle (Adelaide 36ers)
Round 12 Scotty Hopson (NZ Breakers)
Round 13 Scotty Hopson (NZ Breakers)
Round 14 DJ Newbill (Cairns Taipans)
Round 15 Lamar Patterson (Brisbane Bullets)
Round 16 Scotty Hopson (NZ Breakers)
Round 17 Lamar Patterson (Brisbane Bullets)